Gravity
by Fanfic writer kjfungirl
Summary: Meet Angela, the newest exorcist of the Black Order. As Angela discovers, her new responsibilities that come with the innocence she now possess are no walk in the park, but at least she has friends to help guide her through this new challenge. Well A temper-mental samurai, a crazy supervisor and his sister whose sane at least , and two Bookmen. Just what did Angela sign up for?
1. Prologue: Goodbye, My Mundane Life

_**Prologue: Goodbye, My Mundane Life**_

_**3 Years before main storyline**_

The day began as it normally did, the people of the town going about their business. There were people working, mothers cleaning, children playing, life was normal. It was especially normal for a girl about 15 years old. She and her mom had just gone out to the market to pick up supplies for dinner when she noticed them, a man in a dark uniform with a rose cross on his uniform, and a boy, in a similar uniform next to him. The boy looked to be about the same age and height as her, but she noticed something strange about him...

"Mom, why is that boy carrying a sword?" The girl asked innocently. Although it wasn't meant to be a secret, she was rather surprised when the boy whirled to face her, glaring angrily as if she'd just slapped him or something.

"What don't you just mind your own business brat?" He snarled. The girl was dumb struck, unsure of how to respond to something like that. Finally she replied with an obvious amount of distaste in her voice.

"Back off will ya? I was just curious is all, no need to bite my head off." Both of their guardians seemed unaware of the argument the two were having, instead they were (coincidentally) looking at fruits at the same stand and had struck up a conversation with the kind looking man.

"What the hell would your mom know about it anyway," he scoffed, "it's not like either one of you have any right to know why the hell I'm here in this stupid town. So as I said before, mind your own business, brat!"

"Would you quit calling me a brat? We're the same age! And don't insult the town your picking up supplies from, traveller! Besides, it's a reflex to ask my mom okay? So sue me!"

"Maybe you should stop relying on you mommy for everything and think for yourself, you spineless shrimp!"

"Who you calling a shrimp? We're the same height you ill-tempered bas-"

"Angela!" A shocked female voice cried. The girl rolled her eyes. Of _course_ she would get called out by her mother, not the short-tempered brat who actually started the whole ordeal. As a hand grabbed her upper arm, she looked up into the stern face of her mother and could tell that she was in major trouble later for this.

"I'm so sorry about all of this, normally she wouldn't be so rude. Now apologize to the boy _sweetie_." The words were said with such venom that any thought of pleading her case flew away with the wind.

"I'm sorry for being so rude," she muttered. The kid scoffed and glared at the her, not seeming to register her apology.

"Now, now, I'm sure it wasn't your fault. Yu here has a bit of a temper I know, so please try to forgive him." The man said. At least one of the two were seemed sane.

"None the less, she should know better than to act that way around our guests."

"_WHAT_!" Both kids blurted at once.

"Yes Yu, this woman has kindly opened her home to us for the night.

"_WE WHAT!"_ Angela uncharacteristically shouted at her mother. She knew she was going to be scolded, and her knees were going to bleed after being made to kneel on rock salt for a few hours, but right now, all her manners had deserted her when the thought of sharing a roof with that blue-haired jerk for a whole night.

"Angie, keep your voice down and help me carry these groceries back home. Now, I expect you to behave yourself." Her mother ordered. Angie had so many sharp replies on her mouth, but the look and tone in her mother's voice kept her mouth shut. One of these days she was going to be heard goddamnit. As frustrating as it was, Angela shut up and did as she was told.

The walk home was lively for the adults, as they chatted with one another, but both had eventually learned better than to try to make the two get along. Whenever they tried to get the two to interact with one another, Angela (As much as she loathed doing it) made genuine efforts to make friends with Yu, but all her efforts got her were a 'che', a glare, and every now and then him reaching for his sword, which was normally when the man he was traveling with would step in.

Needless to say it was a relief when they got to the house. That is until her mother told her to show the two 'gentlemen' (ha! Yu? Gentle, it's like calling a python friendly!), to their rooms. When she asked about 'rooms' since they only had one guest room, to her absolute delight(note the sarcasm), she learned that she was giving up her room to Yu. She was going to snap when he said that he didn't want to sleep in her bed and risk 'catching her stupidity'.

Finally that was the last straw for her. Angela didn't care if they had to amputate her knees off for sitting on friggin' fire ants, she had to vent goddammit!

"LISTEN HERE YOU UNGRATEFUL, ILL-TEMPERED, SPOILED _BASTARD!_ WHAT THE _FUCK_ DID I EVER DO TO YOU TO GET SUCH A REACTION HM? I'D LOVE TO HEAR WHY A SWORD WIELDING SOCIOPATH HATES ME WHEN MY FAMILY IS OFFERING _HOSPITALITY_ TO SUCH AN UNGRATEFUL, VINDICTIVE..._THING_! WHY I SHOULD TAKE THAT SWORD OF YOURS AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR PAMPERED FUCKING ASSHO-" An open palm connected solidly with her face, and her rant was stopped. With fury in her eyes, she turned to face the enraged eyes of her mother, but instead of submitting to that glare, she returned it with one of her own.

"Angela Marie Wilson, you _will_ apologize to this young man right now for your rude behavior, then follow me to the kitchen and-"

"SCREW YOU TOO _MOTHER DEAREST_!" She screamed angrily. She didn't know what had come over her but by god did she feel good. And since she was already about 30 feet under, she had nothing to lose. "You _never_ let me have an opinion of my own and if you don't like what I say, I kneel on _rock salt_ until my knees _bleed_ and I have to _apologize_ to you for _speaking my goddamed mind._ Now for once in my fucking life I _will be heard_. And I don't give a rat's ass about what you have to say about it!"

As her fury increased, she felt something building inside of her, a kind of energy that she wanted to release. She wanted to just scream her head off until the feeling wen away, but for now, telling off the two people who piss her off most was doing quite nicely. Something in the man's jacket began to glow, and as he looked, a green ball of light was shining brightly, resonating with the girl's growing anger. In fact, she was so into the moment, she didn't even notice several things beginning to crack in the room, or the floorboards groaning...

"YOU WANT ME TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THINGS, TO BE OPEN WITH YOU BUT I _CAN'T_ BECAUSE YOU SEEM TO _LOATHE_ EVERYTHING THAT MAKES ME ME!"

"LISTEN HERE YOUNG LADY WE WILL HAVE THIS DISCUSSION LATER-"

"I SAID SHUT UP GODDAMNIT! I _REFUSE_ TO LET YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER MY LIFE ANYMORE! BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT YOU NEVER LET ME DO ANYTHING FOR MYSELF, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF OPINIONS I HAVE UNLESS I'M IN A FIT OF _RAGE_!" The objects shattered, under the weight of the steadily increasing pressure in the room, her mother noticeably began to have trouble breathing, and even Yu and the man in the room were struggling under the weight.

"Oi! Calm down already-" Yu tried to say but Angela would not hear it.

"I CAN'T FORM OPINIONS ANYMORE! I CAN'T THINK FOR MYSELF ANYMORE! DO YOU KNOW HOW _FRUSTRATING _THAT IS? DO YOU KNOW HOW...HOW...INFURIATING IT IS TO NOT BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITH THE FEAR OF IT NOT PLEASING YOU! I ALWAYS GIVE MY ALL BUT I ALWAYS FALL SHORT! NOW I'M _AFRAID _OF _NEVER BEING GOOD ENOUGH_ OF _BEING REJECTED BY THE WORLD_ I'M TOTALLY DEPENDANT ON YOU AND I _CAN'T STAND IT_. I'M NOT PERFECT, AND YOU ALWAYS LET ME KNOW THAT! YOU ALWAYS PUT ME DOWN AND I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYTHING I SHINE IN ANYMORE!" Several cracks in the wall and floor started to appear.

"I...I...I feel like shit. I'm never good enough, everyone's better than me. Do you know how frustrating it is to be compared to your best friend? Your cousin? _Your dead older brothers that didn't live past birth!_" Angela whispered. the pressure suddenly vanished and all that was left was the shaking figure of Angela.

"I feel like an empty shell, I feel like I'll never amount to anything, and I'm afraid to try anymore. Everything I do is wrong in your eyes and I'm sick of it. There's nothing I can do about it and I'm afraid to just run away and try to make something of my life like I've always dreamed. You make me feel like a bug. I am nothing, and that's all I'll ever be...nothing. You happy now mom? Happy to finally know how I feel, because damn do I feel good that's off my chest, but now that I don't even have my pent up feelings anymore, I truly am empty. You want to sit me in a corner on pebbles now? Cause really, I don't give a fuck anymore," She said in an eerily calm voice. "No? Well, I think I'll go outside and see how cherry's doing." And with that she exited the building.

As Angela, she didn't see the look of pain and guilt in her mother's eyes, nor the look of concern and surprise in Tiedoll's as he looked from her, to the innocence in his hand, to the destruction of the now unstable home.

But something all four of them took notice of right away was the crowd of people outside, and it was impossible to miss the way they shed their skins to reveal egg-like creatures this canons pointed directly at Angela and her home...

Then empty look in her eyes quickly turned to fear as the monsters before her got ready to fire...when a black figure sped past her and leaped high into the air, sword at the ready.

"First illusion, Hell's Insects!" He shouted. Multiple bug like creatures sprouted from his sword, attacking the creatures and destroying them , while he cleaved the rest of them in half with his sword mercilessly. Her mother was suddenly at her side, pulling on her arm, trying to get her to stand and run to the little 'safety' the house could provide. She wouldn't have gone even if she was in her right mind, it was safer out here in her opinion. But her body was locked in place, legs folded uselessly underneath her body. One of the creatures that Kanda had not yet gotten to took aim at Angela and her mother and fired. She could hear Tiedoll giving some kind of command, but a glowing green sphere beat him to it.

Words echoed in the back of Angela's mind, as time seemed to slow down. The Akuma's bullets moving in slow motion, her mother pulling her into her arms in an attempt to protect her only child, and as Angela reached for the sphere that seemed to call out to her, two words left her lips without her thinking about it.

"Innocence, activate." As time slowly started to return to it's normal pace, Angela suddenly _knew_ what to do without really knowing.

"Repel!" She ordered. Suddenly the bullets stopped and flew away from Angela and her mother in random directions. The Akuma approached, getting ready to attempt the attack again, and Angela gave another order.

"Implode." Suddenly, the Akuma stopped it's progression, and several dents in it's body appearing before it exploded all together. In the time it had taken for her to deal with that one Akuma and thoroughly exhaust herself, Kanda had already finished off the rest of them. He turned to Angela and her mother, who were both struck dumb by the events that had just unfolded before them, the look on his face was unreadable as he spoke.

"You see what you just did?" He asked. Angela couldn't answer, still too shocked to do so. But Kanda continued regardless. "You have a power that very few on this planet have. So instead of complaining about your life and feeling sorry for yourself, take that power and make something out of your life," he said coolly. She didn't like the tone in which that he had said it, but as she stared at the glowing green cube that was humming in her hands, she knew he was right. This was her chance to escape and become someone she could finally be proud of.

"You know," the man said, suddenly appearing beside Angela and herself, "despite Yu's tone about it, he is right in a way. What you hold there is known as Innocence. It's the only substance in the world that can be used to destroy Akuma, those monsters that just attacked you. They were after the innocence to bring back to our enemy, the Millennium Earl. If you join us, we could very much use that power of yours to help us win this war we're fighting." That snapped her mother out of her stupor.

"War?" She asked horrified.

"I'll do it." Angela answered with absolute certainty. Although she was scared witless and had no idea what she was agreeing to, she had a feeling that this was where she was meant to be. That glowing cube in her hands was proof apparently.

"Now you hold on a minute you lady. You can't just march off into _war_!"

"Mom, this is not your choice, you don't have a say in it. Heck, I'm not even sure if I have a say in it. But I think the urge to finally do something on my terms is driving me to say yes."

"I'm afraid she's right. I would be best if she came willingly and of her own will. If the Order was to find out about her, they would come for her eventually...whether she liked it or not," the man said gently.

"Then...then take me instead! I can't lose my baby girl! I refuse to see her hurt," her mom pleaded.

"Not a chance," Kanda scoffed, "the innocence didn't choose you, so it won't synchronize with you."

"Mom, it's fine." Angela said. "I promise I won't die," Kanda scoffed again, but she ignored him, "and as soon as the war's won, I'll be back. I promise, I'm going to make you proud." Her mother clasped her face in her hands and whispered something to her.

"I've always, always, _always_ been proud of you. You are my _perfect_ little girl. I'm sorry I ever made you feel differently. I don't think there's anyway out of this so...I guess this'll be our last night together huh?" Angela nodded sullenly, suddenly feeling guilty about what she had said earlier.

"Well, I suppose we should go inside now hm?" the man said. They all nodded and began going inside when Angela remembered something important. Turning quickly around she let out a long high-pitched whistle, before falling into a short song. She waited for several minutes, and both Kanda and Tiedoll were confused as to what she was doing, that is until a small red blurr came from seemingly out of nowhere and landed on Angela's open palms.

"What," Kanda asked seemingly disgusted, "is that?"

"_She_," Angela corrected. "Is a red cardinal. Her name is Cherry." Her mom came out of the house several minutes later with a stale loaf of bread. As Angela tore off pieces to feed to the bird, her mother explained the story behind Cherry.

"Angela found the little thing underneath a fallen tree when it was just a little hatchling after a storm one day. Came home cryin' about how she wanted to save it and how could I say no to that face? So we helped it get to full health, and although it took a lot of work, I eventually got her to let the little thing go. But funny thing is, is came back! Day after day it came back, and even when we didn't give it food for weeks on end, it just kept coming! Eventually Angie taught it a song, the one she whistled to it earlier and now that's their little signal to one another."

Angela whirled around to face the two exorcists before her.

"Can Cherry come too?"

"No," Kanda answered at the same time Tiedoll said:

"Of course." Angela let out a whoop of joy before turning in several circles with the little bird that made her mother dizzy by just watching.

"You hear that Cherry? Mr...Mr...uh...I'm sorry," Angela said sheepishly, "I only caught Yu's-"

"_You_ don't _ever_ call me that again if you value your tongue." He snapped.

"Then what _do_ I call you? Grump? That's fine with me!"

"The name's Kanda."

"Fine! I'm sorry sir, I only caught _Kanda's_ name. What might yours be?" The man chuckled lightly.

"I'm General Froi Tiedoll."

"Mr. General Froi Tiedoll said that you could come with me to...to..." She once again looked to the man in glasses, silently pleading for him to finish her incomplete thought.

"The European Branch headquarters would be the closest one to us. That's one of the Dark Order's headquarters."

"The European Branch of the Dark Order!"

"Great, another annoying person..." Kanda muttered. Angela easily ignored him and followed her mother inside of the house after releasing the little red bird.

"So, General Tiedoll," Angela's mother asked as they ate dinner, "Exactly what has my daughter been signed up to. You call yourselves 'exorcists' and you're at war with what? Demons? Those egg-like creatures that attacked today? And wouldn't my baby girl be in even _more_ danger if she wore that uniform that pegs her as those thing's enemy?"

"You ask too many questions lady." Kanda said.

"Now, now, Yu. I believe they both have a right to know exactly how dangerous this is. You see, honestly, as much as I hate having to bring children into the fray, we need as many exorcists as we can to fight the Millennium Earl, the person who makes those weapons out of suffering human souls. In fact, Angela here wouldn't be the youngest one there, and anyone affiliated with the order is at risk of dying for this cause."

"So _don't_ force children to fight in this war-"

"But we don't have that luxury madam. You see, just as we exorcists collect and use innocence to fight the Earl, he collects and destroys the innocence, which is our only means of defeating him."

'So why don't you train people to use the innocence you do have and then give it to them?"

"We train whomever the innocence chooses. The innocence is a substance with a will of it's own, and only has one compatible user. In this case, Angela is the only person who can wield the one piece of innocence that chose her. And as much as I'd like for her to fully mature and live her life to the fullest, honestly, I wish this war didn't exist at all. But it does and Angela can help put an end to it."

"I see..." her mother said, obviously unhappy with this, but understood it was beyond her control.

"Hey, I promise to visit whenever I can mom," Angela said in an attempt to lift her spirits.

"Yeah," Kanda snorted, "right."

"Actually, it's also forbidden for exorcists to visit their families...you see it's also a risk factor for the family members visited. They may become targets of the Earl. It's an exorcist's final duty to simply...disappear. We are nameless, faceless soldiers for the order and in order to prevent more akuma from being born, the families aren't even allowed to know if their relative dies in this war. I'm sorry, but that is the way it is," General Tiedoll said.

Angela fell silent as both she and her mother picked at their food while lost in thought. Why did it feel to Angela all of a sudden that, instead of being released from her cage into open horizons, she was being placed into an even smaller one?

"Well, her mother said, suddenly sounding chipper and excited. "Is everybody finished? Alrighty then, I'll run the baths and prepare the beds. Angela dear, would you care to help me?" Angela stood up wordlessly and helped prepare the beds and baths after washing the dishes.

"Hey mom, I'm going to call Nicole before bed and tell her the news I guess..." Her mother, although doubtful let her do so. The phone rang a couple of times, and Angela prayed that her friend would pick up her phone this time around.

"Hello?" Angela was too happy for words, but at the same time, she suddenly found herself getting choked up. How could she tell her best friend of 15 years that she was leaving for a war that she just found about? How could she say that all of their fun times would be coming to an end and that they weren't allowed to see one another for god knows how long.

"Hello? Angie? That you?"

"U-uh yeah, it's me."

"What's up? You sound kinda bothered by something. Is anything wrong?" '_Yes,'_ Angela thought. _'Everything is wrong! I can never see you again, I'm marching off to a war I'm probably not going to survive and I can't speak to you again after this.'_ That's what she so longed to say. But then she imagined her blonde friend, her hazel colored eyes and how happy they'd be. She couldn't stand the image that followed, the image of confusion, sadness, filling those same beautiful eyes. But could she just tell her nothing? They'd told each other _everything_ even things they didn't tell their parents about. Wouldn't that be a kind of betrayal?

"Angie? It's late you know, if this another one of those weird jokes of yours..."

"Nah," Angie said, using that carefree voice her friend knew her for. "I just wanted to call and tell you that...that...I don't think I can make it to your party tomorrow. I'm really sorry, but I'll have my mom bring the gift by for me,okay?"

"Uh sure, but why? Are you sick? I could come over and-"

"No, no, I...I just can't really explain. I just wanted to tell you that. Oh and Nikki?"

"Yeah..." there was a worried edge to her friend's voice now, she knew Angela was keeping something big from her, and the fact that she didn't know was scary for someone who'd always been able to read her like a book.

"You're the best friend a girl could ever have. I'm really happy that you're my one and only best friend. You're the sister I never had, and I just wanted you to know that."

"You too Angie. But why are you saying this all of a sudden?"

"No reason, just to you know say it."

"Okay...well...talk to you tomorrow?"

"Talk to you later," hopefully. "Oh and Happy Birthday, Nikki."

"ANG-" But Angela had already hung up. At least she had said everything she wanted to. But she heard that frightened tone in her friend's voice. Nikki knew something was horribly _wrong_ but she could do nothing about it. Neither of them could.

"You didn't tell her?" Came a gruff voice.

"I...couldn't. It would be best if she didn't know. But I think my mom might wind up cracking under the pressure Nikki might put on her and spill everything tomorrow afternoon. But we'll be long gone by then, won't we?" He nodded once before going back upstairs. Angela made her way over to her mom's room, where the woman in question was dressed for bed.

"Angie, sweetie, why are you crying?"Angela didn't even notice that she had in fact, started crying. Suddenly she burst into a fit of uncontrolled tears and cried into her mother's chest. She felt her mom's tears seep into her own hair as she held Angela, for what might possibly be, the last time. After they had both calmed down a bit, Angela did something she hadn't done in years; she asked if she could sleep with her mom.

"Of course, hun." They both held close to one another as they shared their final night together, and although everything was silent, neither one of them slept.

* * *

**AN: HELLO LOVES~ Kjfungirl is here with her very first DGM Fic! Please be gentle. I've been following the manga and watched the anime 3 times, and finally inspiration finally came to me! :D I love DGM soooo friggin much! So as the thing says, this isn't the official story. It's a prequel to a story I already have planned that follows the main story line. This story will revolve around the three years Angela's in the Order with Kanda, Lenalee, Komui, the Science division, and Lavi before Allen joins. When I catch up to the main story line where Allen joins, that will be the end of this fic and the start of the actual story. Same characters and all, but even though it more or less starts in this once, the REAL story that follows the anime (yeah, I like following the anime up until the point where they just stop the series with the whole leave it to your imagination ending because the producer died. Rest in peace dude) and the manga after a while. So read, rate comment. That's all for now! Kjfungirl out! Peace loves~**


	2. Chapter 1: My All

_**Chapter 1: My All**_

They had been walking since dawn, and now it must have been early afternoon. Angela's feet were killing her and she felt ready to drop, but normally she would be able to go for at least until late afternoon with nonstop moving. When she asked about it, she was met with a 'che' from Kanda, and the General informed her that even though she was the innocence's user, until it was put into a weapon, she was using her own energy to keep the innocence from going crazy.

When they got to the next town, Angela would have jumped for joy had she the strength. But she did have the strength to argue when she found out she was about to be left alone with Kanda for the rest of the way to the order.

"_You've got to be kidding me!"_ she cried. Her exclamation was loud enough to get the other patrons of the restaurant they had stopped in for lunch to stop and stare. Even Cherry jumped a bit in Angela's hands when the cracker she had been feeding her suddenly was crushed in her hands. The stares made her sink back slowly into her chair as she raised an apologetic hand to the other patrons.

"No I'm not kidding," General Tiedoll said. "You see, it was pure coincidence that Yu and I ran into one another. I still have to find accommodators for the rest of the innocence in my possession. Yu's mission to retrieve a piece of innocence in the area, resulted in my accidental meeting with him. I was following the way the innocence that you now held seemed to be leading me right to you. Now this is where we part ways. I'm going to continue elsewhere while both you and Yu take this train to HQ." Kanda said nothing this whole time, and though he was just as agitated with this development, he was much more calm about it than Angela.

Frankly, she did not like the impression Kanda made on her, nor the way he simply seems to look down on her. Also the fact that she had a lot of questions that she wanted answered before she got to the Order were questions she did not want to ask Kanda, not like she expected him to answer. However, it wasn't like she had a choice in the matter. So with a sigh, she piped up a couple of questions, which were totally irrelevant to the other questions she had since this had nothing to do with the order. But at least it would make her trip more bearable.

"Okay, so since this is where we part ways until, god knows when, first off, I would like to say it was a pleasure meeting you sir, and I greatly look forward to our next encounter!"

"Well, yes, it was very nice meeting you as well, Angela, and I too look forward to when we next meet."

"Also one last thing..." now Angela was feeling a bit self conscious about what she was going to ask.

"Yes what is it?" he prodded.

"It was just that...I was wondering. Because I forgot to grab them when we left my house-"

"We are _not_ going all the way back to your village. _Especially_ with they way you complain about your damn feet hurting." Kanda snapped.

"No! It's not that. Although my mom has the best of them...I was wondering if...maybe I could have some non-alcoholic maraschino cherries?" The voice Angela used was so soft that the exorcists didn't hear what she had said.

"I'm sorry what?" The General asked.

"Speak up if you have something to say or don't say anything at all," Kanda said. Angela's face was as red as Cherry's feathers as she said in a much more audible voice:

"May I have some non-alcoholic maraschino cherries? I really really like them because they're so sweet but i don't like alcohol, the stuff burs to badly and I remember one time my mom bought some non-alcoholic ones and they tasted _really really really_ good. And then she started making them herself and they were like, ten billion times better, but I forgot to take some with me and now I wanted to know if I could have some even if they aren't as good as the ones my mom made because I would really really really like some please?" By the time Angela stopped her rant long enough to take a breath, a large jar of the cherries were already in front of her. She had no idea when he had asked for them, but the general had gotten the waitress to bring them over.

Staring wide eyed, Angela wasted no time in opening the jar and digging her fork into the container. Nor did she suppress the moan of pleasure once the sweet treats touched her tongue. She offered the jar to the other two, but the Tiedoll refused with a polite: 'All yours' while Kanda stated that he hated sweets. Angela took out a cherry and offered it to Cherry, who took a peck out of it. She feathers ruffled as a chill seemed to rack the little bird's body. She soon let out a chirp of approval.

"Thanks so much!" Angela said happily.

"It's no problem," Tiedoll said gently. Angela popped another cherry into her mouth and dipped some of the bread she had been feeding cherry into the liquid that the cherries were soaking in and offered it to the bird, who ate it with vigor. Trying it herself, Angela also hummed with approval.

"New way to not waste a drop huh Cherry?"

"We're going to miss our train if we stay any longer," Kanda said while getting up. Although she could finish the jar of sweets in one sitting, Angela put the rest of the jar into her bag and reached for her wallet when Tiedoll stopped her.

"My treat," he said. Angela threw herself at the general hugging him tightly.

"Thanks again!" She said. Even Cherry chirped affectionately and landed on the general's shoulder long enough to rub her head on his cheek before returning to her perch on Angel's shoulder.

"Thank you sir for treating me so kindly," Angela said.

"Trust me," he said, "this is nothing compared to the kind of compensation the Order will have to pay you for what you about to do for humanity. Now, I think Yu's getting a bit impatient. Time for you to go." Angela nodded and took off after Kanda, waving one last time to the general.

To Angela's great horror, Kanda wasn't kidding when he said they'd have to run to catch the train. Her legs and lunge were burning and it took some encouraging chirps from Cherry who was flying beside her, and death treats from Kanda to make her run fast enough to barely make it onto the train as it departed.

"Why...the...hell...didn't...you tell...me sooner...that the train was going...to leave?" Angela heaved. She couldn't wait until that damned innocence was in a controlled state so even little runs like those would stop tiring her out so terribly.

"You were to busy pigging out on those cherries of yours and talking to the general for me to get a word in edge wise."

"...Liar..." she huffed. As she rose to her full height, she saw just how packed the train was and realized that Kanda hadn't given her her ticket. What did he trust her enough not to lose it?

"So, where are our tickets?" Angela asked. A small smirk made it's way across Kanda's facial features as he pointed to the rose cross on his uniform.

"This all the ticket we need." He said. As they made their way up the isle, a man collecting tickets stopped them.

"Tickets please?"

"We're with the Dark Order. We already have reservations." The man's eyes widened.

"O-of course sir! Right this way!" Angela couldn't help but whistle in approval. SO being an exorcist was that big a deal huh? Her question was answered when she saw that they got their own private first class car. Damn, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"The ride was extremely awkward for Angela for a while, that is until she fell asleep while gently cradling Cherry in her arms. When she later awoke it was Dark out, and she was about to ask Kanda how long she'd been out when she noticed something somewhat adorable; the samurai was asleep. With that seemingly perpetual scowl gone form his features, Angela had to admit to herself that he was a very attractive boy. Although, some part of her was conflicted.

One half was jealous that he made a prettier girl than she thought she could ever be, and the other half wanted to see how far into a dress and makeup she could get him before the boy awoke and murdered her. But since he was several sizes bigger than her (do you really think that if she had the materials she _wouldn't_ at least _try_ to do it?), she settled for placing the now sleeping Cherry on her lap, watching the scenery pass by as she stroked the little bird's head. Reaching into her bag, she took out the unfinished cherries and opened the jar as quietly as she could. As she was about to take one out, she realized that she didn't have anything to take them out of the jar. True she could go into the jar with her fingers, but she didn't want her finger dyed red, nor the sticky sensation that comes with it. Also, she at least needed to wash her hands before proceeding. With a sigh, she recapped the jar, and gently placed Cherry on the chair before opening the door and going out into the dining cart.

The train was almost eerily quiet, as all of the passengers slept soundly in their seats. Aside from a few snores, everything was silent, so Angela made her way through the crowd as quietly as she could. When she finally made it to the dining cart, she was relived to find that the bartender was still up. Looks like all that creeping about wasn't for nothing. As she made her way towards the man, there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Something was screaming at her to get back to the cart, get back to her innocence which was still in her bag; in other words, far out of reach. She felt insecure and like something bad was about to happen.

What was she thinking? There's nothing wrong. Everything is normal. Nothing's going to happen if I'm away from the innocence for more than a few minutes. Besides if something goes wrong it most likely won't be anything that Kanda couldn't handle. Those were the thoughts that Angela tried to use to ease the feeling of unease that was unsettling her stomach. Suddenly the cherries weren't all that appetizing, not even water seemed like a good idea Angela was so queasy.

"Is there something you need young lady?" The bartender asked with a little bit of concern in his voice. "Would you like some water? You seem somewhat pale." Angela shook her head no. She turned to make her way out of the cart, back to safety, back to her innocence, when time once again slowed. The world began to tilt,and several screams came from all over the train. The structure shook, rattling every bone in Angela's body as the train seemed to regain it's balance. What the hell just happened. It certainly hadn't been her imagination, the shattered glass on the floor from broken bottles and glasses that fell off of the bar was proof enough.

The bartender made his way unsteadily towards Angela.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Angela nodded as she shook her head to clear her thoughts. Something had hit the train. Something either very big, or something very strong and it nearly derailed them. Moving towards one of the windows, Angela saw a sight that only succeeded in making her never doubt a gut feeling ever again. Akuma. Hoards of them, and several of them were not those egg like things Angela had encountered at her village. Her innocence. She needed to get to it. Cherry. Oh shit Cherry. The little cardinal was probably fluttering in a frenzy and if the Akuma didn't board the train and kill her first, Kanda most certainly would for pissing him off.

"Stay away from the windows and go into the passenger carts!" Angela ordered before bolting out on her own. The train tilted again as she made her way through the panicking crowd of people. What idiots would get out of their seat at a time like this? Angela erased that thought as soon as it came to mind...she was one of those idiots. But she had a reason other than unadulterated fear. Okay so that greatly contributed to it, but it wasn't the only reason. She told them to stay away from the windows as well, but she wasn't sure how many of them had heard her.

She bumped into someone and was knocked off of her feet. Then again, it probably would have happened anyway since the train once again began to tip. But once again it righted itself, but this time it went a bit too far for Angela's liking. As she regained her balance, she was about to move past the person she had bumped into when he grabbed her shoulder. A familiar tweet reached her ears as she stared into the cold eyes of was perched comfortably on his head and in his hand was a glowing green cube; her innocence.

"Don't ever leave this unattended. It was a damn pain to pick it up, let alone to come find you." She saw that his words were true when she saw the burn marks on his palm. So looks like in a raw state she truly was the only one that could hold it.

"Yeah, because I so saw an Akuma attack coming when I went to get a fork for my ch-fuck please don't tell me they spilled!" Yes, it was the wrong time to worry about them, but hey why not address the matter before she forgot. All she got in return was an angry and even colder (if that was even possible) glare from the exorcist.

"Forget about the damn cherries! And if you must know they spilled _on me _when the damn Akuma nearly knocked over the train the first time." After taking a closer look at him, it did look like part of his uniform was a darker shade and damper than before. Oops.

"I guess I didn't close the lid properly. My mom was always yelling at me about that and how ants would get into the sweet stuff-"

"Shut up already! I'm going to take care of the Akuma outside. You make sure that no one in here gets hurt." The boy was already gone out through a window, presumably onto the top of the train before she could ask the boy _how the fuck he expected her to do that_.

"I don't suppose you have any ideas Cherry?" But the bird didn't answer. She looked around for a moment before the horrible realization that the bird _was still on Kanda's head when he left_sank in.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK! KANDA YOU BASTARD DON'T YOU DARE LET A SINGE FEATHER ON THAT CARDINAL'S HEAD GET HURT OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL CRUSH EVERY BONE IN YOUR GODDAMED BODY!" She screamed into the air. Several of the passengers were staring at her, and every mother in the cart had their hands over their children's ears. Angela cleared her throat before apologizing to the people in the cart. She looked around, trying to find anything she could use as a weapon around her.

True she had an other-worldly one in her hands, but she wasn't exactly sure how to use it. Then she remembered; several things broke in the dining cart. Maybe something in here could be useful? Only one way to find out. She made her way back to the dining cart (thankfully the bartender had taken her advice and went to join the other passengers) and looked around. Behind the bar, the shelf that had been holding the drinks had been broken, she got more than one splinter and cut looking for a sizable piece of wood and the longest and sharpest piece of glass she could find.

With bloody and clumsy fingers, she used the glass to cut off a piece of her shirt and used the cloth to tie the wood and glass together. She didn't have the time or promise of steady hands (the train had been tipped again while she was searching) to simply sharpen the wood. Besides, the more distance she had from those machines, the safer she felt. Making her way back into one of the passenger cars, they saw the crazy girl that had been cursing her head off before now had a weapon. Needless to say that didn't sit well with the passengers.

"She's armed!"

"Is she behind those monsters attacking the train?"

"What's going on?" were just a few of the things Angela heard the frightened crowd shout.

"Listen up!" She ordered. They immediately quited down. "I know that things are looking bad right now, but my...partner (could she really call Kanda a friend with the way he treated her?) is outside fighting those monsters and trying to save all of our a-butts," she corrected herself when she caught the glare of the protective mothers. "We're exorcists and it's our job to protect you all from those things outside, but I need you all to work with me here!" There were doubtful whispers among the crowd and Angela could tell that this wasn't going to be easy.

"I know I must sound crazy but please trust me! I only want to help you all. Now first off, could you all please stay away from the windows and get closer to the middle-" her sentence remained unfinished as one of the walls of the cart flew off completely, taking several passengers with it. The outside world was in full sight, and the Akuma;s next meal wide open.

"Okay forget what I just said! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND INTO THE NEXT CART!" She shouted. Angela didn't need to say it twice before the crowd ran screaming into the next car. Angela did her best to ward off the Akuma with her makeshift weapon, but more than a few were either shot to death and turned to dust, or carried away but the other Akuma. One of the Akuma whacked the spear out of Angela's hands and was about to attack when it was cleaved in two by none other than Kanda.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kanda shouted over the roaring wind-wait, something else was roaring...

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" Angela screamed in horror and awe. A giant red thing was high in the sky tearing apart the Akuma with it's beak and talons, while incinerating the rest with the flames that sprang up from the inferno that was it's body. If Angela looked hard enough it almost looked like...

"I'll explain later. But what the hell are you doing using that flimsy thing to fight _Akuma_? You must be more retarded than I thought!"

"Well you told me to protect the passengers, which was what I was trying my best to do!"

"Why didn't you use your _innocence_ idiot? You did damn well enough back at your house!" He turned momentarily to cast the Hell insects onto the approaching Akuma before turning back to face a now seething Angela.

"Well that was instinct! I don't even know what the hell I was even doing then! Let alone how to do it again!"

"Then _stop thinking about it_! I shouldn't be too hard for you since your head is already empty!" He then leaped away, to fight along side that...Angela was going to assume it was a phoenix that had a startling resemblance to...no way that wasn't possible! She was just hallucinating. Kanda said he would explain later, and if Angela's guess was right, there would be some explaining later.

As she made her way into the extremely packed cart, she put some serious thought into what he had said. Or rather, tried _not_ to think too hard on what Kanda had said. Perhaps he was onto something. If it was instinct that saved her and her mother the first time, then why couldn't she just do it again? But there was more to it than that! If it was just instinct, then why didn't it kick in again when the Akuma say, attacked the open car? Angela looked around. There were people weeping for those that had just died when Angela failed to save them. There were men trying to comfort their families, mothers wrapping their arms around their children, trying to protect them with everything they had listening to their children's whimpers and tried to comfort them. Speak over their feelings-

That was it!The first time the innocence had reacted to her, Angela was trying to be heard. She wanted to be listened to. She wanted to make a difference in a situation that was unacceptable for her. She also wanted to change the fact that she was about to die, that she was about to be forever silenced. She wanted to make a change. She wanted her voice to be heard. Perhaps it was the desire for _change_ that her innocence reacted to. If Angela truly wanted to change something for the better, perhaps she could get her innocence to work with her again.

Taking a deep breath, Angela closed her eyes. This situation was _definitely_ worth changing. This wasn't right. People shouldn't be losing their families because of some sick bastards playthings. What's worse, she should be using a power that she alone has to fix it but she _isn't_. That was going to change. _Everything_ was going to change. That was a promise. The innocence hummed in her hands and suddenly both of her hands and her feet were enveloped in a warm green light. Her body felt so light, it was as if she could simply float away, as if the laws of gravity no longer applied to her. When she reopened her eyes, Angela found that she was in fact, floating several feet off of the ground.

She looked up, and during the expanse of time that it took for her to consciously activate her innocence, the Akuma had torn open the roof of the car. The screaming returned in full force but this time, Angela was going to make certain that no one died.

"Repel!" She ordered. Now she knew what was happening. Her innocence controlled the laws of gravity. Right now, she had lessened the gravitational pull on her own body, which was why she was floating, but she hadn't lessened it to the point where she was free floating. Now she was reversing the gravitational pull around the car all together, so instead of pulling the Akuma towards her, she was pushing them away.

Angela smiled to herself. This would be more fun than she thought. She allowed the pull on her body to lessen even more so she could go onto the top of the rain with ease. She saw Kanda, killing off Akuma by the dozen. She wanted to stand there and watch as he seemed to dance across the top of the train, blade cutting smoothly through the Akuma. If she didn't see him as such a jerk, Angela was sure that she might have fallen for him in that moment. But right now was not the time to gawk at him. There was till another car of people, and the Akuma had not neglected to gather around and attack that car too.

Moving even higher above the car so she could have a clear view of her two priorities, Angela increased the gravity below her. The AKuma dropped like bricks of lead, and Angela was going to continue until they were crushed when she heard the pained cries of the people on the cart with the missing roof. She saw them all on their knees, seemingly unable to stand. Angela removed the pressure on the cars. She needed more practice. She made a mental note to be able to do concentrated attacks instead of broad ones so as to not crush innocent people along with the Akuma.

The Akuma had began to recover from the unexpected attack but Angela had already taken action. She was floating just above the cars and using the 'repel' command, was keeping the Akuma away from the two remaining passenger cars. The Akuma were not deterred however. The continued the onslaught of attacks and once again resorted to tyring to push over the train. However their efforts were less successful since Kanda and the phoenix had both wiped out a large amount of their forces.

However, Angela saw something that made her heart nearly skip a beat. There was a bridge coming up. It was still in tact thankfully, but that didn't matter since the Akuma still had enough force behind their attacks to push the train clear off the bridge and into the ravine. She looked around desperately, but both Kanda and the phoenix were too preoccupied with their own foes. Right now Kanda was locking blades with an Akuma that looked like the armor of a knight, and the phoenix-whom Angela was having less and less of a time believing that it _wasn't_ Cherry-was fighting some sort of dragon that fought with wind attacks.

What was the conductor doing? Angela couldn't check, but if the lack of screeching breaks was any indication, she had to assume that the conductor had been killed by an Akuma.

"Damnit!" She cursed. Hopefully none of the children heard that, but now was not the time to worry about that. Angela was tired, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up her defenses, nor was she sure what she could do if the Akuma decided to knock the train into the ravine. Her question was answered shortly after when she suddenly began to feel like she was floating; and it wasn't because of her innocence. Several things happened at once.

Cherry was momentarily distracted by the screams of terror (Angela's included) when the train began to free fall and the dragon took that opportunity to get a clear hit on the bird's wing. Angela cried out for the bird, and turned to where she last remembered seeing the swords man. After having lost his footing due to the sudden tipping of the train, the Akuma swung wildly, as it too began to fall, and made contact with the exorcist's side. Angela more felt the wave of curses and anger that Kanda emitted than heard them.

Was this it? Was this how Angela was going to die? How could she rest in peace knowing she had let all of those innocent people down? What about Cherry? Her Cardinal-turned-phoenix was in trouble. And Kanda. Even though she despised his attitude, he was still fighting with his all and it would be pathetic for someone of his caliber to die like this. With a whimper instead of a bang. Angela was feeling faint, all of her energy had been expended from protecting the train. She had nothing left.

Angela closed her eyes. Although she hated it, there was nothing she could do. This was the end for her. At least she had given her all right? That's all anyone could ask of her, right? Blacking out, in what she was certain would be her final moments, Angela revisited her childhood.

* * *

**AN: And here goes chapter 1! Don't be expecting so many updates in one day loves, I'm not that good. In fact, even though I'm on summer break, it will be hard for me to do updates because I'm going to be BUSY. But most of the stuff I'll be doing will give me several ideas to be used...like my upcoming trip to Cancun! :D I hope you all enjoyed! P.S. Not all of these chapters will be say 8 PAGES LONG ON MICROSOFT WORD! Yeah! You heard me, this chapter along was _8 pages people!_ As much as that pleases me, I hope not to make set a precedent of this. Not that they're going to be crazy short like 3 pages, no way too short to be acceptable, but the chapters will be of varying lengths depending on how much I want in if. For all I know, some could wind up being like 12 pages while others are like 6! But yeah!**

**Until next time, Kj-chan out! Peace Darlings!**


	3. Chapter 2: What Makes An Exorcist

__**Chapter 2: What Makes an Exorcist**

_It was another bright and sunny day. Angela and Nikki were playing outside once again. Today it was a relay race judged by one of the boys from the town._

"_All right," the boy said in an official like way, "Today you two girls will race for the honor of being the fastest in all the lands! And the honor of kissing me-"_

"_Gross!" both girls chorused. The boy however learned to ignore them by that time._

"_What must you do in order for this highest of honors to be bestowed upon the head of the worthiest? Well allow me you devilishly handsome and-_

"_Long winded?" Angela supplied._

"_Just get on with it already!" Nikki said impatiently._

"_Alright, you race to that big tree, then climb to the top, climb back down and come back here to the start line. First one back wins. Happy?"_

"_Very," Nikki and Angela said._

"_So boring though...whatever. On your mark," Angela and Nikki got into a running position. "Get set," They crouched, building as much energy as they could in their legs to get a speedy take off. "GO!" They took off as fast as they could. When they were about half way to the tree, Angela began to lag behind a bit, but didn't give up. When they got to the tree however, that's when things got rough. Nikki being the powerhouse that she was, was much farther up the tree than Angela, and by the time Angela got to the top, she was on the bottom. _

_But Angela was stuck. She was too tired to even make an attempt at climbing down, which should have been easier than going up; if she didn't have to move nimbly and carefully so as to not fall. Nikki had long since won and Angela had been slowly moving down the tree. But she slipped. Her back collided hard with the ground and the wind was knocked out of her. All of her energy was gone, she couldn't move an inch. Nikki and the boy came over to her looking worried, but Angela hadn't been too far up when she fell._

"_Angie! Hey Angie get up!" Nikki prodded. Angela shook her head. All she wanted to do was sleep. But Nikki wouldn't let her give up so easily. "Come on, the fall wasn't that bad! We both saw it!"_

"_Too...tired..." Angela moaned. Nikki was never very gentle, but it was her often cruel actions towards Angela that always made Angie strive to do better; whether she wanted to or not. And right now, she definitely would not._

"_Come on! You're almost there! If you give up when you get too tired, how do you expect to beat me in the rematch? You have to stop putting in such half asses efforts! Like I always say, 'I will fight, and I'll sleep when I die!' Sleep when you're as good as dead Angie, sleep all you want. But you're alive right now, and this isn't the worst case scenario. You could've busted you head open you know."_

"_Not...helping..."_

"_So what? Come on you know that's not all you've got! If you have the energy to complain, you have the energy to finish this race!"_

"_But you won," Angela said._

"_Yeah, but you can still cross the finish line with pride can't you?" Although she didn't like it, Angela took the outstretched hand Nikki offered her and got to her feet. She was dizzy, but Nikki had a point. If she could complain, she could just as easily see this through to the end._

"_See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Nikki teased. When Angela crossed the finish line and promptly collapsed._

"_You suck." Angela huffed._

"_Love you too. Now, remember what I told you, you didn't give it your best until you died in the process. And if you ever need a push in the right direction, I'll be right here to kick your ass straight to the finish."_

"_I don't know if I should be happy or scared..."_

"_Be both." They both started laughing heartily. And even though Angela never actually beat Nikki after that day (lord knows how many rematches they had) she at least came closer each time, and not once gave up._

* * *

Angela's eyes snapped open. Nikki was right. Even though she felt like she had nothing left, she was still alive. And that was reason enough to keep going. Righting herself somewhat in the air, Angela prayed to her innocence.

"One more time," she pleaded, "Just give me one more chance. We can still do this," the screaming filled her ears. "We _have_ to do this. I'll give it my all if you will." The innocence glowed brightly, once again enveloping her wrists and ankles in a brilliant light. With every last drop of energy she could muster Angela screamed at the top of her lungs:

"REPEL!" The bright light grew even larger and enveloped the entire train and its human passengers. Any level two Akuma in the barrier found themselves incinerated by the innocence upon contact with the light. The train's descent slowed and as Angela forced out more energy, it eventually came to a full halt mid air. The people were thoroughly confused, but upon seeing Angela's straining figure above them they began to cheer happily. However, no matter how hard she tried, Angela could not get the train to go _up_. They were stuck between life and death, and death was guaranteed the moment Angela's body gives out, the moment she dies, which would be the only time she'd allow this train to fall.

Kanda, although somewhat disoriented by not only the sudden stop in mid air but blood loss, somehow found his way over to Angela. Now that he had a better understanding about her innocence's nature, he was still surprised that a rookie like herself was able to pull something like this off in her state. But he knew the truth about the matter. Although the passengers seemed to think they were saved, they didn't know just how close to death they all were. Kanda had to think, he didn't know how much longer Angela could hold the anti-grav space, and he had to make sure they were out of that pit when she gave out.

One thing to be happy about was that the Akuma seemed to have left, possibly assuming the whole lot of them to be dead. The Earl would undoubtedly send them back to collect the innocence once they report that they were on board. That would be three less pieces of innocence to hinder his plans, and possibly, whether it be the piece he had retrieved on his mission, his Mugen, or Angela's innocence, every innocence had a chance of being the heart, although he doubted it, it wasn't a chance worth taking.

His thoughts were interrupted by a weak voice.

"Hey there...glad to see you're still alive," Angela whispered.

"I don't die easily," Kanda answered simply. But he had more pressing things to think about than his regenerative abilities. "How much longer do you think you can hold us up?"

"Depends," she said in a barely audible, but still somewhat playful voice, "how long do you think I have to live?"

"I'd say another couple of minutes at best," he said honestly. So what if the girl didn't want to hear that? It's the truth, but she didn't seem fazed, in fact she seemed to agree with him and was resigned to her fate.

"Well, there's your answer..." her voice faded away and Kanda worried. Not for her well being of course, but about the fact that if an accommodator loses consciousness while their innocence was active, the innocence would also stop working.

"Oi! Don't fall asleep!" Kanda ordered. But she did not move. He waved a hand in front of her face but she did not flinch, and upon closer inspection, he saw that she had in fact passed out, but why was her innocence still active? Kanda shook his head in disbelief, it couldn't be possible, but there was the proof right in front of him. Angela's will to keep fighting was keeping the innocence going even when she was out cold. Although Kanda had to admit that it was impressive, it still didn't change the fact that her life force was rapidly fading and was about to give out any second.

"...rry..." Angela mumbled.

"What?

"Che...rry..." Cherry. What the hell could she want with that bird at a time like this? Kanda would have asked had she not been sleep-talking.

A screech from above made Kanda and the others look up. The phoenix, although no longer on fire and heavily wounded on its wing, dove off of the cliff and down towards them. The people screamed in terror, thinking it was another beast come to eat them, but the bird swooped clumsily past them until it was directly underneath them. Then, it flickered several times, before igniting once again in all of its flaming glory and touching its beak to the edge of the field of light that was keeping them suspended in mid air.

Angela jolted awake and screamed in agony. That bird must have been almost super nova it was burning so brightly, and Angela must have been aware of the things that touched her barrier. In other words, to her it must have felt as if she was burning alive. She gasped for air as if drowning, but the barrier held. The bird flapped its injured wings as hard as it could and they began to move upwards. Angela let out another pained cry and this time the barrier began to flicker. Kanda for a briefly terrifying moment felt as if he was falling, and the screams of the passengers confirmed that it wasn't just his imagination.

They were moving up quickly, but they had fallen into the deep pit, and Angela seemed to be clinging to a spider web of life. More than once the barrier almost totally fell apart, and more than once Kanda was certain that they were all going to fall to their deaths. But right now it was a race against time. They had seconds at best before Angela gave out all together, but about the same amount of time before Cherry got them out of the ravine and to safety. The passengers were cheering on Angela and Cherry, and Kanda, despite himself found himself also encouraging the rookie who currently held all of their lives in her hands.

Suddenly the barrier solidified as Angela once again lost consciousness. Was it some kind of defense mechanism to she could make her energy last longer by blocking out pain? It didn't matter, because Cherry finally got them out and pushed them a safe distance away from the edge of the cliff before she once again extinguished her flames and fell, shrinking back down to her normal size. However the people were still above the ground. Angela was still holding the barrier up and she was going to die if she didn't release it.

"Is everyone out and away from the train?" Kanda called. A murmur of confirmation rippled across the group and Kanda turned back to Angela.

"Wake up already!" He shouted in her ear. But she didn't stir. Just how far gone was she. Kanda did the next thing he could think of, he hit her with the butt of his sword. If pain woke her p the first time it should work again. But it didn't. He didn't know what else to do. So he tried one last thing that was totally against his nature, but just might be what she needs to hear.

"Every one's safe now. You did good kid, you can relax now." Just as he had hoped, Angela stirred slightly before replying in an almost childlike voice:

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." A small smile spread across her features before she whispered:

"Yokatta," and allowed herself to fall into his arms. The barrier fell and all of the passengers fell with it although it wasn't a long drop. Kanda laid Angela down gently on the grass next to Cherry. They both slept soundly. Kanda would do the same, just as soon as he would check to see if his golem was still intact. Better tell Komui that they've got a promising (of course minus the 'promising' part, Kanda was not sentimental) new arrival, so they'd better get a room ready. Kanda looked back at the girl and her sparrow.

"That kind of guts kid," he said to himself, 'is what really makes an exorcist. Maybe you're worth that innocence you have after all." If Kanda didn't know any better, he could have sworn that the girl started smiling in her sleep.

* * *

**AN: And here is chapter 2! This is the point where updates slow down a bit darlings. Now I have to decide how things work from here. But it matters not! The only reason these updates came so quickly was because they were all prewritten. Granted it only took three days for each chapter to be made, but still, I wouldn't expect frequent or consistent updates. No matter though! This story will be written, which is what matters to me! I'm determined to continue this one, and hopefully make this the first story I've ever finished O.o. SO SUPPORT AND IDEAS ARE WELCOME! So please rate and comment this story. All (serious) ideas are welcome loves, I might actually use them! Well, anything other than pairing ideas. I've already got that worked out sorry for whomever I end up disappointing. Now one last thing:**

**To those of you who actually read these author notes, you might be able to take advantage of this offer!**

******This chapter starts out in a flashback, hence the italics, if you can guess the song I put into the flashback (it shouldn't be too hard folks) you get a cyber cookie, a cyber pat, and a sneak peak at the next chapter! That is if you're the first to message correctly. To be more specific, just comment on this chapter with the correct answer, so even if I'm starting on the main story or finishing it (I really hope it doesn't take that long for me to get a response considering this story ends around the same time the manga ends with my own little wrap up to close the story and note yall: IT'S STILL ONGOING WITH LONG INTERVALS OF UPDATE TIMES -.-) so long as you were the first correct answer, I will message you the first part of whatever chapter I'm about to post no matter how far along into this story I am. For those of you who think they know it, here's the biggest possible hint I can give you without spelling it out: Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler).**

******Until we meet again: Kj-chan out~ Peace honey!**


	4. Chapter 3: The Aftermath

**AN: Hey yall. This one took a bit longer to get out than I would have liked, but my summer isn't all cookies and rainbows. Yes, even during vacation, school work haunts me. However, it's out now, and that's all that matters to me! :D Alright this is VERY IMPORTANT so read this. Alright, I received a review (SHOUT OUT TO OpenDoorLeia! Thanks for the reviews constructive criticism, and open support of my story! And for getting the promised cyber cookie!) that pointed out to me something I thought I had addressed in the last chapter, but apparently forgot to do so. I'm going to go back and edit it, but this whole story is a rough draft basically, so the change won't be made until after this'draft' is completed. Alright for those of you who might have noticed and are confused, listen up. If you noticed I typed in '****Kanda looked back at the girl and her sparrow.' THAT WAS NOT A TYPO. I thought I had made the announcement but turns out I neglected to do so...my bad. I'm changing Cherry's bird species from a cardinal to a sparrow. There's no particular reason, I just like Cherry better as a sparrow. Like I said this story is a draft, and although the story line is final, grammar errors, choppy writing, bird species, things like that are not set in stone. I mean, by the time I'm done Cherry might be a_ bat_ for Christ's sake (That's not REALLY going to happen, but it's just an example) because I can make her into one(Just like I can keep her red even though sparrows aren't naturally red. She's a phoenix yall, if you can live with that, try to overlook the unnatural color m'kay?). So for those of you who have been reading because they are interested in seeing where I take this story but are somewhat turned off by the very...bad writing style, I'm going to go back and edit this when the story is done. So just bear with me for now and give me feedback on areas where you think I need work so that way the edit will go even smoother!**

******Oh and even though this is like four chapters late: DISCLAIMER: I do not own any aspects of D. Gray-Man, including characters, organizations and the like. Just Angela, Cherry, and any other minor OCs I put in there. Honestly this disclaimer is pointless. If there are any lawers with no life trolling this site, they should be checking out fictionpress. Not ...seriously, just putting it on this website is enough of a disclaimer...**

* * *

It was morning when Angela finally regained consciousness. Her head was pounding and everything from the night before was nothing more than a blur. She tried to get up from the position she was in, but found that her body felt like lead. She couldn't even open her eyes, which now felt like they were bricks instead of flesh. She couldn't move, she couldn't open her eyes, and her head felt like it was about to explode. She wanted to speak; to call for someone, _anyone_ who could help, but her mouth and throat felt bone dry.

What was wrong with her? Just yesterday she was...she was...she was _what_ exactly? Everything hurt so much, and Angela just wished she could at least see where she was. Despite how dry her throat felt, she managed to let out a low moan of discomfort. Couldn't the thing she was riding on move a bit more carefully? Every step made her body feel like it was about to-

Wait, riding on?

Working hard to focus on her surroundings, Angela noticed that she was in fact, being carried by someone or something, but by whom and on what? And why did she need to be carried in the first place? Trying harder now, she with much difficulty, forced open her eyes to a half lidded state. She immediately regretted it. The sun was high in the sky and shining brightly in all of its brilliant yellow glory. With a hiss of pain, Angela squeezed her eyes shut as her headache returned tenfold.

"So you're awake?" Came a familiar voice. Angela nodded.

"More or less. Where are we, Kanda?" Not that she could complain really. Despite how much the sun agitated her headache, and the fact that those two sentences were enough to make her raw throat feel like it was on fire, wherever she was, it very soft and comfortable. That is until, whatever she was riding on seemed to trip or something, as suddenly she found herself falling, until someone reached out and steadied her.

"If you're awake, quit acting like dead weight already," Kanda said in that oh-so-kind way of his. With a sigh, Angela tried once again, to sit up on her own. This time, knowing just how tired she was, she took it much more slowly, and somehow managed to prop herself up onto her elbows. She was dizzy, but at least she was a bit more alert...whatever good that was doing her.

"I'm up, happy?" She said tiredly, "Now, you never answered my question. Where are we?"

"After the incident with the train-" _Now_ she remembered. Akuma had attacked the train, had tried to kill them all. But she managed to keep the train from falling, with Cherry/Phoenix pushing them to safety. After that... "We got moving right away. It was only a matter of time before the Earl sent the Akuma back to collect the innocence, meaning that it wouldn't be long until he found out that the innocence wasn't there-"

"What about Cherry?" Angela croaked. (Where was a glass of water when you needed one?) Either that Phoenix that had not only helped them, but had also been injured was Cherry, or was a complete figment of her imagination and the little bird had been shot to death. And Angela highly doubted that it was the latter.

"Look down." Angela looked down on what she and Kanda were currently riding on. It was a rather large mass of red..._feathers_? Angela turned around much too quickly, and despite feeling like she was about to vomit, she also felt like jumping for joy when a large black eye met her own dark blue ones. Throwing herself down onto the bird's back and spreading her body out, she hugged as best she could the large beast that was now carrying her.

"You're okay!" She sighed, "How the hell did you do that last night? You never told me you were a phoenix! And where the hell were you when the Akuma attacked back at home? Or when the Akuma attacked the train? Kanda, you've got some serious explaining to do!" Angela said before breaking into a coughing fit.

"Why me?" The teen snapped.

"Three reasons," Angela said after recovering from her little cough episode. "One, birds can't talk, but _you_ can. Two, you were the closest one to her when whatever made her like this happened, and three, you already promised me an explanation during the fight."

"Whatever," he huffed, "The stupid thing wouldn't stay the hell away from me, so I didn't bother anymore when it followed me out to its own death. All it did was make a whole lot of noise, and I thought it would be the end of all that racket when it was hit with an akuma's bullet. If the sheer force of the blast didn't kill the thing, the poison would."

"Heartless jerk," Angela whispered with her face still buried in Cherry's soft crimson feathers. Perhaps her little comment had been too muffled for Kanda to hear, or maybe he just ignored it since he continued none the less.

"Then it made even more of a racket, and when I looked to see why the hell it wouldn't just shut up and die, the next thing I knew, it was the size of an elephant and burning Akuma alive. So my guess, the bird's an exorcist as well, which was why it was able to not only kill Akuma, but nullify the poison."

"I see...wait, Akuma bullets have poison?" Angela asked, lifting her head from the mass of feathers to face the samurai.

"What are you stupid? I know for a fact that more than one person must have died when you were doing a pathetic excuse of protecting the passengers. Didn't you see what happened to those that were hit by the bullets?" Angela thought back. The image that came up was somewhat disturbing to her eyes, but held the answer to a question she wanted answered.

...

_The wind howled as scenery of the outside world passed by. People were screaming in terror, and more than one let out a cry of anguish as they either fell out of the exposed side of the train, or were whisked away by an Akuma, each situation guaranteeing death. Angela heard the scream of a woman and her child close to where she now stood. She turned to see an egg-shaped Akuma taking aim at the innocent people._

_Angela moved as fast as her body would allow, so she could do something, _anything_ to save their lives. However, a man whom Angela was assuming was the father of the child and husband of the wife with him, stepped forward and took the full force of the bullets. When the smoke cleared, Angela saw that he was still standing somehow; but something was wrong. His face was contorted in pain and fear. Black star shaped pentacles began to dot his skin and they spread rapidly. Within seconds, his skin became ashen gray, before he turned to dust. The mother and children screamed in pain, having lost a loved one._

_One thing she could not forget though was the look the child gave her. It was so sad, and at the same time, it seemed to say to Angela 'Why did he have to die? Why didn't you save him? Why...'_

...

"Oh," Angela said softly. "So that was because of poison then." She sat in contemplative silence. Just what else didn't she know about the world she was getting into? Angela rolled over and looked over Cherry's side at the bird's wing. Someone had bandaged it rather neatly. Wounds. Angela crawled over as fast as her dizzy state allowed to Kanda, who was lying comfortably on his back with eyes closed.

"Hey, how are you?" She asked with concern. True she didn't necessarily _like_ Kanda, but even jerks like him should be taken care of, especially if they happen to save your life more than once.

"What are you talking about?" he asked irritably. Was he mad? About what? Angela hadn't done anything wrong to piss him off. Then again, he seemed to be naturally abrasive. Ignoring that though, Angela pressed on.

"That wound you got from the Akuma. How is it?"

"Fine," He answered shortly.

"Nothing like that heals overnight," Angela insisted. Try as he might to push her away, Angela wasn't going to let it go until she made sure his wound was at least properly tended to. After that, she would happily leave him to huff and puff on his own.

"You've been out for two days," he stated.

"Okay, well nothing like that heals in even two-wait what? I've been out for two whole days!" Angela exclaimed with surprise. The outburst made her dry throat sore and she broke out into a fit of coughing. Two days without water was certainly taking its toll on her. Needless to say, she was caught off guard when something collided with her forehead rather roughly once the bout of coughing subsided. Angela was about to ask the swordsman that had thrown the item at her just what the hell he was thinking when she realized what it was; a bottle of water.

She was thoroughly confused as to why Kanda of all people would do something that was remotely..._nice_. As much as she would have loved to ask, she had a feeling it would only serve to tick him off somehow, or just be left unanswered. Each scenario resulted in the same thing however; Kanda rudely blowing her off. So, she simply opened the bottle and happily allowed the liquid to soothe her burning throat.

"Thanks," she said. As expected she got no reply, but another thought struck her and Angela added onto her previous statement. "Now it's time for us to get off." Kanda cracked an eye open, but he wasn't glaring for once, just staring blankly, almost like he was bored before saying:

"What?"

"I said it's time to get off. Off of Cherry I mean. It's not fair to all of the passengers or Cherry that we get a giant feather pillow to lug us around when she's injured no less."

"I'm fine to comply, but you did some serious damage to your own body when you forced your sync rate up earlier. So if you can walk, go on ahead, but don't expect me to do you any more favors if you collapse."

"You didn't do anything for me, jerk. I'll thank you for giving me the water but-"

"Che," Kanda scoffed before jumping off Cherry. What's got his knickers in a bunch? **(AN: I've always wanted to put that into one of my stories ^^) **Whatever, that was not Angela's problem. But Kanda had a point before. Angela's body felt like lead before, and although they felt a bit lighter, she wasn't sure how coordinated her movements would be. She tested out her arm and leg movement. They were somewhat sluggish, and it hurt quite a bit, but it wasn't anything unbearable. Now it was all a matter of if her legs could support her body. Only one way to find out.

"Alright, Cherry, you can let me off now," Angela said to the sparrow. She turned her large head around and the single black eye that looked at her had an expression in it that relayed worry to Angela. She smiled to the bird.

"It's alright, I'll be fine. Thanks for doing this for me thus far, but you need to rest too ya know." The bird eyed her once more, but finally stopped. After making sure she wasn't going to crush anyone (which there was no danger of since everyone kept a good distance away from the giant bird), Cherry sat down on the ground and extended her uninjured wing for Angela to use as a ramp. Angela tried her best to be careful so as to not fall off of the wing and proceeded with caution, but her limbs felt heavy and she was unable to find her center of balance.

The result? Angela sliding on her stomach, reminiscent of a penguin, down Cherry's wing and face planting into the ground. Angela removed her face from the grass and looked up into the curious eyes of a young child. Her bright blue, curious eyes bore into Angela's dark blue ones as the teen attempted to right herself, but failed miserably. Opting to simply lie on the ground for a while, she saw that the child was still there. The little girl looked to be about 6 or so, with her bright, blonde hair done into two pony tails on either side of her head, both touching her shoulders.

The girl's clothes were dirty and torn in several places, and she also had a few minor lacerations on her hands and face, but those were the only indications that she was injured during the Akuma attack. Her outfit consisted of a now slightly torn yellow sundress with a white silk sweater tied around her shoulders. Angela hoped to herself that those innocent eyes had not witnessed the death of a parent, sibling, cousin, or any relative that might have been aboard the train with her.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked. Angela smile in confirmation, despite feeling like crap.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks for asking." The girl smiled and nodded before going back to a woman that had to have been her mother. Once the child was gone, Angela, with shaky arms pushed herself up to her knees, and with more effort, eventually made it onto her feet.

"See?" she said to Cherry, who still had not shrank down to her normal size. But the bird did not move, the glitter in her eyes challenging Angela to do the one thing that would prove to Cherry that she was fine; walk.

"Humph, fine then Cherry," Angela said with a playful glint to her eyes, "Challenge: accepted." **(AN: Been wanting to use that one too ^^) **Angela took an unsteady step forward, and nearly toppled to the ground, but remained standing. She took another, and despite how greatly her body protested, she was determined to prove both Cherry and Kanda wrong. Angela's steps were unsteady, but there none the less, and she didn't fall too far behind the group of people. Cherry watched her for a while before getting noticeably smaller and smaller until she was once again the little bird Angela had raised.

Angela noticed that the bandages had also fallen to the ground. It made sense, it wasn't like they were made to shrink and grow as Cherry did. Although that would be pretty cool...Wait, who bandaged the little sparrow the first time anyway? Angela thought about the possibility of it having been Kanda for about a millisecond before dismissing the absurd thought. Kanda, do something thoughtful? Hell would sooner freeze over. She was pulled from her musings when someone tapped lightly on her shoulder. Even so, Angela felt so sore that even something like that hurt like hell.

After suppressing the urge to scream her head off and bash the person's head open, Angela turned to face the person who wanted her attention. She found herself looking into the eyes of a boy about her own age. His hair was jet black and messy along with the rest of his attire. His eyes were bright green though, and they were not only shining with life, but it spread the infectious smile he had on his face onto Angela. The boy wore a pair of long brown pants and a wife beater that was now a bit brown from being covered in dirt.

"Can I help you with something?" Angela asked politely. The boy's smile did not fade in the slightest as he answered.

"Well, it's more of what my father and I can help you and your pet there with," he replied. Cherry chirped and bristled, obviously not liking what the boy said.

"Uh, Cherry's not a 'pet', she doesn't like being called one. She's a friend."

"Oh, then what we can help your friend with."

"And what might that be exactly?" Angela had no idea how refreshing a regular conversation could be when she had been talking to an anti-social asshole for the past couple of days.

"Well, my father is a veterinarian, and after your little friend became normal sized, he bandaged her wing the first time, and then again when she changed sizes to carry you. It was kind of funny actually, considering that she gave us a heck of a hard time with keeping her wing still and accidentally knocking us over. Plus her wing was so big..."

"Sorry about that. And thank you for your troubles. If you need payment then-"

"Oh no! You've got me wrong. After saving our lives it's the least we could do. No, I came over here because my dad wanted to redo the bandages. Plus you looked a bit unsteady on your feet so, I thought I'd give you a hand." Angela's smile grew wider. He was so...so..._polite_! It was so adorable to Angela and she could just hug him! But that'd be awkward. So instead she settled for:

"Thanks again, but I couldn't possibly impose-"

"Oh no, it's no trouble. In fact we'd be delighted if you'd let us give you a hand. My dad can't stand to see a hurt animal, and I can't stand to leave a lady in distress without assistance, especially when they're our saviors!" he said while bowing low in front of Angela. But he did it in such a grand and comedic way that Angela couldn't help but laugh at the boy's antics.

"So is that a yes? Great! Now let me just take her to dad," The boy carefully took Cherry from Angela's hands, and the sparrow did not argue, in fact she seemed almost comfortable around him...

"She seems to like you already. I guess you and your dad must have treated her well," Angela commented.

"Well, she certainly didn't like it when we took her away from you to treat her the first time. That's one loyal friend you've got there," he said. _'Yeah,'_ Angela thought, _'that's ONE loyal friend I've got with me now...'_

Angela opted to sit and wait for the boy, who practically bounced away to hand Cherry off to his dad. She saw that he was about a head taller than his son, and of slight build. He had the same jet black hair as is son, but it was cut too short for it to even get messy. The man was dressed in clothing similar to his son's the only difference being that his pants were beige and instead of a wife beater, he was wearing a white tee shirt.

The boy talked with his dad for a bit, and gestured towards Angela every once in a while and at one point Angela waved to the man, but after a while she simply stared out ahead of her. The group moved at a steady rate, and if they didn't hurry, Angela was sure they'd get left behind. They remained close to the tracks, and Angela could make out a town not too far off from where they were now. If it took them two days to get to where they were now, they must've been pretty far away from the station, but at this rate they should reach the station by sun down.

It was an open clearing that they were walking across now, no trees or anything for miles, but Angela was fine with that. Nothing against trees, but somehow the clearing was so nice, the overgrown grass, the weeds and wildflowers. She took a deep breath of the fresh air and exhaled slowly, savoring every moment of this peaceful silence. But the image of the child's eyes met her behind her closed eyelids. Those sad, lonely, accusatory eyes...

Angela quickly exhaled suddenly finding it hard to breathe. That's right, this wasn't a picnic, most of the people before her had lost someone precious during that incident, and it was because she couldn't protect them...

"You okay?" The boy asked. Angela jumped with surprise when he spoke. How long had he been there?

"Yeah, fine. Let's get moving," Angela said with forced cheer. The boy's eyes flashed with concern, but he did not ask the question that was obviously on his lips. Instead he smiled at her before offering a hand to Angela, which she gladly accepted. Upon standing she lost her balance for a moment, and unintentionally fell into the boy.

"Careful there," he said.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, still a bit woozy is all!" Angela apologized while pushing herself away from the boy.

"Well, that's why I'm here to help," he said kindly. Angela nodded in appreciation, and was relieved when he allowed her to lean on him as she walked. They walked for a while, Angela leaning on him, and the boy making idle conversation with her as they went. He told her about the place he was going to. Apparently he was going back home which was the next town over from the one they were approaching. His father was going to some convention for vets and he wanted to tag along since he too wanted to become a veterinarian and thought that it would be a good experience.

"That's a wonderful dream you have there...um..." What on earth was his name? "Oh, wow, this is embarrassing. You and your dad have been helping out Cherry and I, and I don't even know you name!" The boy blinked at Angela in confusion, before laughing heartily. Angela's cheeks went red as she laughed nervously with him.

"I just realized I don't know your name either!" The boy finally said. "I guess we both forgot about the introductions earlier then huh?"

"Yeah, my bad," Angela said sheepishly. 'Well, there's no time like the present! My name's Angela."

"Angela, that's a nice name," the boy sighed, "I'm Eric."

"I had an uncle named Eric!" Angela commented without thinking.

"Really? What a coincidence! But don't go calling me uncle, I'm still young!" Both he and Angela laughed at this, before they fell into silence for a bit. Eric seemed like a really great kid. Why couldn't he be her companion for her trip to the order instead of that arrogant, jerk-wad, of a swordsman?

"So where were you headed?" Eric asked.

"Well," Angela said uncertainly. Was it okay to tell him? Well neither the General nor Kanda had said that it needed to be a secret that she was an exorcist-to-be. I mean they had their own uniform and everything! So where's the harm in telling him? "I'm going to the Dark Order Headquarters. I'm going to become an exorcist so I can protect people from those things that attacked the train. They're called Akuma, and defeating them is only the basic of what we have to do. I'm going to become an exorcist to not only destroy Akuma, but to eliminate the man who makes them." No need to include the part about supernatural substances that choose accommodators or being forced to join this war against her will now is there?

"Wow," Eric said after a while, "that sounds pretty heavy. So you're pretty much at war with the dude making these Akuma?"

"Pretty much," Angela said.

"Well," Eric said, "Best of luck to you, be sure to take care of yourself, because it'd be a shame for the world to lose someone as fun as you are." As soon as his words sunk in Angela's face lit up with delight. She started smiling from ear to ear at Eric, who was also smiling earnestly at her. Now Angela _really_ wished she could travel with him.

Suddenly Angela's head started swimming. She felt really dizzy and her body felt even heavier than before. Was it another relapse? Had she done too much too soon? Eric seemed to notice the change in her stride because he stopped for a minute and gave her a concerned look.

"Are you okay, Angela?" He asked. Angela held her head with her free hand and nodded, despite feeling like she was about to pass out. She almost didn't notice when Eric moved. Her arm was still around his shoulder as he moved in front of Angela, backed up a bit, before putting her other arm over his other shoulder and grabbing her legs. Before Angela could protest that she was fine, she was being carried on Eric's back.

"Better?" he asked with another one of those infectious smiles. Angela nodded numbly before shaking her head vigorously and trying to get him to put her down.

"N-no! It's fine really! I was just a bit tired is all!" But Eric wouldn't hear it.

"It's no big deal. You're not heavy, besides you could use the rest. Looks like you exerted yourself more than you knew."

"B-but, I mean I haven't been _doing_ much the past two days apparently. I mean, Cherry was carrying me all that time-"

"Cherry? You mean the sparrow? She only started carrying you a few hours before you woke up." Angela blinked in confusion at this new bit of information. But then again, it made sense in a way. They had to treat Cherry twice, meaning that the bird had to have been resting after the first treatment before changing to accommodate Angela and Kanda. But then who...

"Wait, so were you carrying me then?" If his dad was treating Cherry, then surely it must have been him helping her out the first time. Now she owed him an even bigger debt since he was doing it _again_...

"No, you're blue-haired friend was. He kept grumbling to himself about 'troublesome rookies', but he was quick to carry you for the last couple of days and didn't complain all that much after a while." Angela's head was reeling. _Kanda? _As in _Yu Kanda_? He was the one who helped her? Now she understood his sour reaction to Angela's statement about him not helping her earlier. Although he had not said anything, she had discredited him for something that must've been a huge inconvenience, but a really huge favor for Angela.

With a groan Angela buried her head into Eric's shoulder.

"Please, please, _please_, tell me you're kidding. Tell me that this is all some sick joke, Eric," she pleaded into his shirt.

"No...Why is something the matter?"

"Yes," Angela moaned, "The world's biggest asshole did something nice for me, when he was _injured_ no less, and I not only didn't thank him, but I insulted him by discrediting his actions."

"Oh," Eric said, "If it helps, plenty of the passengers, myself included, offered to carry you because we also saw he was hurt, but he insisted that he was fine and that we should 'mind our own damn business. He is a weird one, acting mean and stuff, but he must be a nice guy if he was willing to help you despite his own discomfort. Besides, you were unconscious, how could you have known?"

"Not. Helping," Angela groaned. Now she knew that she had _royally_ screwed up. But the thing that worried her most would be his reply to the apology she was going to give him. It was going to be something snappish, arrogant, or some sick combination of the two. Lovely. Eric only chuckled at Angela's overly dramatic reaction, and the girl was about to tell him how not funny this whole thing was to her considering that now she _owed_ the bastard, and she was terrified that he might not let her hear the end of it. However, her complaint was cut off by another of a different variety, coming in the form of a rather loud growl from her stomach.

Angela's face was as red as Cherry's feathers at the sound, and Eric only laughed harder.

"Hungry?" he teased.

"W-well, maybe a little," Angela said while trying to recover some of her dignity. However when the boy continued to laugh, out of instinct, Angela became defensive. "Well I used up a lot of energy and, and I haven't eaten in two days apparently..."

"Well looks like your stomach chose the right time to speak up. Looks like we're breaking for lunch." He nodded towards the group of people that were ahead of them, who either were sitting on the plain grass or on a blanket. Several people were going around with sacks handing out food to their fellow survivors. Eric didn't set Angela down until they were somewhere in the middle of the plethora of people. Eric's father sat down next to the two teens, and handed Cherry to Angela when the female in question stretched out her hands to take the little bird.

A woman who looked to be in her mid thirties with dirty blonde hair that only reached the base of her neck came by. She handed Angela an apple and a piece of bread, and gave the same to the males beside her. The little girl that Angela had seem earlier trailed closely behind the woman, along with a little boy with messy brown hair and chocolate eyes. Both of their tiny arms were filled with as many bottles of water as they could carry.

"Do you need one?" The boy asked. Angela shook her head no, showing the bottle of water she had received from Kanda earlier to the children. They nodded in understanding before scampering off to give the water to those who did need it. Angela looked beside her to see Eric and his father munching idly on their apples, both observing the scenery around them. Angela smiled softly and followed their lead. As she looked at the state of the passengers around her, she became more aware of the destruction the attack had caused.

No one was unscathed; the degree of injury varied greatly from minor cuts and scrapes to people who were heavily bandaged. But the surface damage was nothing compared to the emotional damage Angela could see in the eyes of the people. Considering it was the third day since the crash, Angela thought many people were coping well, since no one was crying. However, she saw the broken look in the eyes of wives who had lost their husbands, of children who lost their parents, of husbands without wives, of those watching over injured ones who looked like they might not last the rest of the journey.

Angela's heart clenched at the scene before her. Her guilt only magnified considering she had lost nothing. She was just as well off as she had been when the trip started. She knew her loved ones were back in her home town, going about their average lives safe and sound. These people though, men women, children and the like, were deeply scarred with the loss of things very precious to them, and Angela could only hope that it was not irreparably so. As the ache in her heart grew, her stomach churned uncomfortably and suddenly, she wasn't hungry anymore.

"Angie?" Eric asked. His voice sounded so far away, however Angela quickly reconnected with reality. "You alright there?" The boy continued. Angela shook her head to free it of the depressing thoughts that circled around endlessly in her mind, but was only able to push it to the back of her mind. It would do for now. Right now, she had to keep it together. She could cry, regret, and mope all she wanted later. Right now though, she needed to keep it together. Breaking down would do no one any kind of good.

"Angie?" Angela questioned with a raised brow. She never recalled telling Eric her nickname.

"Uh yeah," Eric said while scratching the back of his head self-consciously. "I hope you don't mind if I call you that. It just came out kind of naturally. Not that you name isn't already nice and all! It's just that-"

"It's fine!" Angela said cutting off the flustered boy's rant. "It's just that, that name reminds me of home is all." _'I wonder how Nikki's doing.'_ Angela thought to herself. _'I know she saw me go and boy I can only imagine what the look on her face would be at that present...or the treasure box...'_ Angela looked up at the clear blue sky, and in the clouds she saw home. The towns people, her mom, Nikki...her dad.

Why was he coming to mind all of a sudden? Man she must really be homesick if she's already thinking about times that she spent with her dad all those years ago. _'I wonder what he would have said about this whole exorcist thing. Heh, probably call it the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard of and tie all of us to our beds if they tried to take me.'_ Angela thought with a smile. Her dad was so much fun...

"Yeah," Eric said, cutting into her thoughts. "I guess everyone here is thinking of home. Fond memories and stuff. It helps to have somewhere to go back to, people waiting to help you through tragedies like this and make it better. I bet that's what's driving most of the people who lost someone, knowledge of a warm place where they are under the protection of warm, welcoming arms," he said with a wave of his arm.

"Probably," Angela responded. Eric had a point. Home was a place of comfort. A place to return to, where people you have loved and grown up with are more than willing to help you through whatever difficulties you're going through. Could the Order possibly become something like that for Angela? The possibility existed if the war lasted long enough. Well, so long as not everybody there was an arrogant prick like Kanda, if that was the case, she just might have to either turn homicidal or suicidal. Could her innocence crush her to death if need be?

Her innocence.

"CRAP!" Angela shouted suddenly. She jumped to her feet and started looking around her frantically. The sudden movement caused her head to spin and Angela was forced to sit back down, lest she heave up her apple. But the rising panic in her did not subside in the least. She couldn't have lost it, could she? The last time she remembered even thinking about the powerful little cube was when she was maxing out its power.

"Oh, this is _not_ happening. This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening." Angela repeated the phrase over and over again trying to convince herself that _this was not happening._ The teen began pulling madly at her hair and began swearing every profanity she could think of before simply saying incoherent babble that was known as the language of panic mixed with denial, fear, and self-loathing.

"Angie...?" Eric questioned cautiously, his female companion seemingly having gone over the deep end. One minute they were talking about home, the next she was swearing her head off, ranting about innocence, irresponsibility, decapitation, and sociopathic teens, before dissolving into something he couldn't decipher at all. She didn't even pause for a breath once throughout all that and it would've been somewhat impressive had they not been deeply disturbed by her behavior. Without stopping her mindless babble she began crawling around in circles before collapsing onto the ground and pound her limbs and head against the ground, similar to a five year old throwing a tantrum.

Suddenly, the seemingly deranged teenage girl stilled in her movements. Eric and his father were both staring at Angela, both wary of approaching her after that extreme display of sheer insanity. Even Cherry was watching the whole display silently, not even daring to approach her caretaker when she was so visibly unstable. Eric's father pushed his son forward gently, the boy stumbled forward a bit, but turned to give his father an 'are you crazy, because she obviously is' look and refusing to take a step closer.

However his father sent him a 'she's your friend, at least see if she's alive!' look in return. Their silent exchange continued for a while before they both took notice of the tiny little bird hobbling towards Angela. When she was right next to the still motionless teen, she turned to face them, and the men could've sworn that the bird gave them a look that said 'you're both pathetic'. They were not going to be told off wordlessly by a bird. Wait, did they just think that? Was insanity contagious or something?

With a shrug, both men approached the teen and as they got closer, the received their first indication that she was in fact alive at least when they heard her muttering something to herself. As they got closer they could better make out what she was saying.

"I'm dead. I'm a dead woman walking. My days were numbered they moment I lost consciousness two days ago. Kill me now. Just get over with. Cherry, have mercy on my god forsaken soul please. Just burn me to a crisp now. No that would take too long. Get someone to find me a big rock so I can bash my head against it. Nope, I'd sooner pass out than die. Run me through with something then. But don't let _him_ do it. He'll skin me alive and let me suffer the three days it'll take me to die. Please god. Strike me with lightning. End it now..."

Yep she has definitely lost it.

"U-uh...Angela? Why are acting so...suicidal all of a sudden?" Eric asked. He really had no better wording for this situation. Angela turned to face them, her eyes were dead and Eric and his father were convinced she must be catatonic or something.

"Because my life is forfeit. It's over. As soon as he finds out what an idiotic mistake I made, hell's fury in its purest form shall be released upon me and ravage my mind, body, and soul with a force even worse than death."

"What?" both men chorused. They knew it was a mistake to ask, considering her current mental state, but it was too late now.

"I did something that only a true fool-no, even a fool would look at me and say, 'wow, she's a real idiot'."

"Angie, you're making no sense right now you know? Try taking a few deep breaths and explaining _slowly_ what's wrong. Maybe we can help?" Angela nodded numbly, but did not move from her splayed out position on the grass. However she did take several deep breaths, and after returning to a semi-sane state explained to them the cause of her distress.

"Okay. Remember where I told you I was going, Eric?" The boy nodded. "Good, well, the very thing that _defines_ me as an exorcist is my innocence, the stuff I used to keep the train from falling. Well, I'm thinking now that the innocence made a bad choice because I have absolutely _no_ idea where I left that outrageously powerful cube and I just now noticed it was gone. Now you get it? Not only will be journey thus far have been _pointless_ but I don't think I'd even make it back home in one piece once Kanda catches wind of this."

Cherry was currently chirping her head off, and Angela knew that the little bird was laughing at her stupidity.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up little Ms. I-don't-'have-to-keep-track-of-my-innocence-because-it's-inside-my-body. I'm an idiot. I royally screwed up and I'm going to die at the hands of a deranged teen. The only kiss I'll ever know in my short 15 years being the 'kiss' of death that the cool metal will bring to my skin as he cleaves my head clean off..."

"Deep breaths," Eric reminded. As Angela calmed herself, Cherry began chirping, trying to gain the attention of the three humans around her.

"Oh shut up Cherry. I get it, my inevitable doom is the joke of the century," Angela drawled. However Cherry's chirp became a more irritated one and she began flapping her wings wildly.

"Hey take it easy there," Eric's dad coaxed, "I think she's trying to tell you something, Angela." Cherry's chirping calmed down and she hopped over to Angela's hand. She then began pecking at her wrist. Angela was about to tell the sparrow to knock it off because that hurt...but it didn't. And there was an audible ringing each time the bird's beak connected with Angela's wrist.

Angela hadn't really _looked_ at her body since she woke up. Examining her injuries and such just hadn't been on her mind. All she knew was that she was tired, and once she was back in top condition, everything else could come later.

Although, for the life of her, Angela had no idea why she didn't notice the accessories that she certainly did not have on when she left home. On each of her wrists there was a silver bracelet, dotted with what looked to be emeralds, but turned out to be more pieces of her innocence, that hugged very tightly to her skin. Identical ones could be found on her ankles as well. They were so light though, that Angela honestly had no idea they were there until Cherry pecked them.

How, when, and _why_ did this happen? Wasn't the innocence supposed to remain in some kind of 'unrefined raw state' until they got to the order so they could make it into some sort of weapon? Although, Angela had to admit, it would be much easier to keep track of it when it was on her person instead of constantly having to hold onto a glowing green mass of energy that she could easily set down and forget somewhere. This unexplained development however left Angela speechless, but it seemed that Eric and his father seemed beyond lost, so Angela articulated to the best of her ability the current situation:

"Found it."

It wasn't long until the group set off again. Although she really hated it, Angela once again found herself being carried. This time though, she was riding on the back of Eric's father while the teenage boy held onto Cherry. Several passengers gave Angela strange and curious looks, which the girl attributed to her mental breakdown during lunch. However, word that they were not stopping until they made it to the town, which would be at around sunset, did not fail to reach her ears.

"I greatly appreciate the assistance, but I simply can't allow you or your son to baby me all that while. You've both done enough for me and Cherry thus far. I'm really grateful for your help, but I should be good now." Honestly, she should find Kanda, so as to not only apologize, but make sure he didn't all together ditch her when they got to the town (She would not put it past him). Also, maybe he could provide some insight as to why her innocence changed shape.

"I greatly insist. It's no trouble really. I doubt that minuscule lunch did much to restore your energy," he replied. He was right, but Angela felt that she actually _could_ last for quite a while this time. _'But,'_ Angela thought, _'It wouldn't do if I found Kanda just to collapse again.'_ After thinking it over for a minute, Angela felt that it would be in her best interests to recover as much energy as she could so that way she could keep up with that jerk of a traveling companion she had. Also, pleasant company for a few more hours just might be enough to hold her sanity over until they reached the order.

"...Alright," Angela agreed. "But once we get close to the town, I have to find my..." what _was_ Kanda to her? She didn't think the relationship they shared could be attributed to anything _close_ to friendship. Comrade? Eh...she just didn't like that word altogether. "Partner." That would do right? Nothing intimate or suggesting that they were anything other than business associates or something. _'Damn, there's a good word right there!'_ Angela thought. "Otherwise, there is no doubt in my mind that he'd leave me stranded there." Eric and his dad both started chuckling lightly, believing Angela to be acting overly dramatic again.

"I'm not kidding. He will not _hesitate_ to leave me behind. In fact, I bet he thinks that when I got off Cherry earlier, I just kinds stayed there on the ground like a helpless idiot!" Which she kind of was, but that was beside the point.

"Fine, fine. We'll find your friend-"

"Associate," Angela corrected.

"What happened to partner?" Eric asked.

"Associate fits better."

"We'll find you whatever-he-is before we go into town. I'm guessing that he'd be heading the group though. He seemed like the type to take charge."

"Yeah," Angela agreed. He certainly took charge when those akuma attacked. Their journey continued in companionable silence. Every now and the Eric would pipe up some short conversations, but things were mostly quiet between them. Angela felt so...at peace at the moment. Being with Eric and his dad was just so relaxing. Their presence alone made her feel like she was home again back with her mom and dad. True not all the days were pleasant, but those days held some of the more fond family memories Angela held.

The steady movement of Eric's father, the fresh air, the warm atmosphere that the two provided, mixed with Angela's own fatigue and before the teen knew it, she was fast asleep.

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**AND DONE! Yeah, funny how the chapter with more action is only four pages while the nice idle one is 12 huh? Like I said, varying chapter lengths loves! Anyway, don't be shy, give me your opinion. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism welcome! Flames are a no no. Remember that. Also, again if I ever become off base with character personalities, let me know before i get too far into that realm of darkness~ (Although that shouldn't be an issue in this chapter because all speaking characters are OCs whose personalities I make up so don't you dare criticize them. Well I mean you can, but, what I mean is they can't be OOC because I made them to my specifications) Anyway, see you alls next time on the next installment of Gravity! Thanks for reading, can't wait to see you all again! ;D**

**~With Love,**

**Kj-Chan :3**


	5. Chapter 4: Homesick

_**Gravity Chapter 4:**** Homesick**_

"_Hey there, princess. How long are you planning to sleep?" Angela groaned in response. Angela hated mornings, but she knew it was probably well past a reasonable sleeping time. However, that fact didn't stop her from trying to bargain with her dad for extra sleeping time._

"_Five more minutes..." she said sleepily. She heard him chuckle before he answered._

"_Come on, it's Saturday, you know what that means." For a minute, Angela couldn't fathom what the day of the week had to do with her sleep patterns, but then it sank in; today was cleaning day. Every Saturday she and her family got up to clean the house of all the dirt and grime compiled from over the week. Everyone in the house had to participate, unless there were guests over. Unfortunately, that was not the case, so Angela had no excuse to sleep in as she usually did. But it didn't stop her from trying._

"_I know...five more minutes..." Her father sighed before she heard him leave the room. For a moment, Angela had truly believed he was going to give her the extra time she had asked for, and began to drift back to sleep. That is until he came back blowing on a whistle and banging pots and pans together. With a moan she pulled the pillow over her ears, hoping to block out the obnoxious noise. He then opened the curtains, allowing sunlight to flood the room. However, Angela wasn't ready to give up just yet. She wasn't sure when this had turned into a game, but it wouldn't be the first time her dad turned something so average like waking her up in the mornings into a full blown circus._

_Pulling the blankets up over her head, Angela shut her eyes tightly to block out the blinding light. Her father pulled the blanket and it slid right out of Angela's feeble grip. In a last-ditch effort, Angela curled up into the fetal position, with her face buried into the pillow and her hands over her ears. The noise stopped, and for a moment, Angela had believed it was over. But that false hope flew from her heart as soon as she noticed that she was beginning to roll. He flipped the mattress on her! _

_When Angela fell unceremoniously onto her but in front of her dresser, she grabbed the stuffed animals that were situated there and began pelting the man with them._

"_Back off, old man! What's a little sleep?"_

"_If I have to be up, so do you, cookie. So should I carry you out like I used to?" Angela's eyes widened as he quickly snatched her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes._

"_Put me down!" Angela cried unconvincingly. He only laughed as she pounded her fists on the man's back as he carried her to the kitchen. He plopped his daughter onto a chair and took another open one next to her mother. Breakfast was already on the table and they seemed to have been waiting for her before eating. With a playful pout on her face, Angela began eating her omelet. _

"_Now, was that so hard?" Her dad teased._

"_Oh hush. You're fixing my mattress later, you do realize that don't you?"_

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand._

"_You flipped her mattress?" Her mother asked with mild surprise. She was used to their antics by now._

"_Well...she pelted me with stuffed animals."_

"_That was after you flipped my bed and came in there raising such a loud racket that it could've woken the dead!"_

"_So what does that make you?" Angela glared playfully at the man. Her father was really fun and cool for a man in his 50's. He was also in good shape. He had fair skin, and a shaved head, although Angela knew he kept it that way so people wouldn't notice the bald spot in the center of his head. His golden brown eyes were always shining with mischief, a trait Angela's mother claimed her dad had passed onto her. He was of a rather large build, but it was because of muscle, not fat. He was always keeping busy with outdoor work like trimming the hedges or mowing the lawn when he wasn't he was taking jogs around the town, so as to keep in shape and talk to the other townsfolk._

_Angela's mother was laughing now and everything seemed fine. They were one happy family of three working together, laughing together, eating together, and that's just how a 6 year old Angela liked it._

_But the scene suddenly changed._

_Angela was up in her room, reading a book by candlelight, Cherry sitting on her open windowsill and she could hear the voices of her parents screaming at one another, another argument. About what? Angela had stopped caring long ago, considering that it was such a regular occurrence. The sound of shattering glass could be heard and Angela sighed, there goes another china set. The argument ended with her mother making the usual statement about how one day she was going to be free of him and his tyrant and verbally abusive ways. Angela never quite understood these things, since she was only 8 at the time._

_Suddenly, the scene changed. It was night and Angela was being restrained by her mother, or was it Nikki? She couldn't be sure; everything from that night was nothing but a blur of tears and pain. Fire was everywhere, all consuming, and her father was still inside the house. He had just barely managed to throw Angela through the opening of the door before the entrance collapsed. She had to go to him, he had to get out, and he couldn't possibly be trapped in there after he was holding her just a moment ago._

_The house suddenly came down completely and Angela was screaming at whoever was holding her to let her go, to let her save her dad. Her eyes were overflowing with tears. It was her fault. She had forgotten about the candle in the study before she had gone to bed. It had been sitting on the edge of the table rather precariously and it must have fallen over after her parent's argument that ended when her mother slammed the door to the bedroom, rattling the whole house._

"_DADDY!" Angela screamed._

Angela awoke with a light gasp. It was about sunset now, and she was still being carried.

"You awake?" A man asked. That's right that was a dream...a memory from three years past. Angela wiped the tears that were welling in her eyes away as she answered.

"Fine thanks. Where are we?"

"I was just about to wake ya. We're close to the town and I thought now would be a good time to find your friend."

"Associate," Angela said playfully. "I can move on my own now, thank you." Eric's father let her down and Angela found her words to be true. She still felt stiff and sore, but at least her whole body wasn't as heavy as before, and she could actually move with only minimal discomfort.

"Good to see you feeling better!" Eric said kindly.

"Thanks," Angela replied. "Now I have to find Kanda..." Angela scanned the crowd for the male, but found that she would have to be a bit more proactive about her search if she hoped to find him. _'How troublesome...I really don't want to have to find and apologize to him, but I have to for the sake of not only doing the right thing, but making it to the order in one piec-well, making it to the order at least,'_ Angela thought.

"We'll look too. We've got nothing better to do right, dad?" Eric asked. His father flashed him bright smile before nodding his agreement.

"Alright, if one of us finds him, how do we let the others know?" Eric's dad asked. Angela gave this a bit of thought. How would they let the others know? There's no way they'd be able to make Kanda wait for the others to find him, and she had a feeling that he didn't give two shits about finding her.

"I have no idea," Angela confessed. "And when I think about it, this is really my problem. I know that you guys just want to help, and I really appreciate it. I mean, you have no idea how much some civility and well..._human_ behavior has done for my mental state. But honestly, I think I have an idea as to where he went, and you guys should be focused on your trip home. If you see him before I find him, I wouldn't mind a heads up, but you don't have to worry about it anymore. Thanks so much for all that you've done for me and Cherry too. I hope to see you both sometime again soon. Take care!" Angela bolted off without a second thought and once she was sure she was clear from the two males she took a moment to sit down.

"I have no idea what possessed me to do that," Angela muttered. Cherry just stared at her, tilting her head in confusion. "And it looks like you'll be no help in telling me why either. Well, it's better like this, don't you think? I mean, we shouldn't be getting so attached to people that we may never see again. Plus, with pleasant company around, how am I supposed to mentally prepare myself to deal with him?" Cherry simply stared at her, beady eyes offering nothing to Angela. "You're such a huge help you know that?" Angela asked sarcastically. It was then that Cherry chirped some sort of reply.

Angela once again stood and looked around. How hard is it to find one blue haired, feminine looking, sword wielding sociopath with a glare so cold it could freeze hell? Angela began walking with the group, trying to get to the front. It would make sense that he would want to get to town as soon as possible right? If that was the case then he would be at the front of the group, a bit ahead of everybody else and keeping a distance that said 'do not disturb'. With that in mind, Angela began making her way to the front of the group, now thinking of what to say when she found him.

'_The first thing that come to mind is to bite his head off for totally ditching me like that,'_ Angela thought bitterly, _'But I should probably apologize first. Or maybe thank? I think a thank you would be better...but that might backfire on me.'_ As Angela pondered her thoughts she soon found her inner thoughts becoming outer musings.

"If I say thank you, he might say something like 'what for' or 'don't get used to it' or...damn it! See what you and him do to me Nikki? You're both such thick-headed, argumentative, insufferable..._bitches_, so now I'm trying to predict the argument! But at least Nikki had her good moments and her threats and such were playful...I'm home sick and it's only been what? Four days? And I've been asleep for three of them! I'm so screwed. Wait, what was I even thinking about earlier? Wait, when did I start speaking to myself?" Cherry chirped, but what that could possibly mean was beyond Angela's comprehension.

After taking a look around her, Angela found that she had made it to the head of the group...but Kanda was nowhere in sight. "Son of a-"

"What are you doing?" came a voice from behind. Angela nearly jumped out of her skin since she was so unprepared for it.

"Sweet Jesus!" Angela shouted as she whirled to face the very person she was looking for. "You're trying to kill me aren't you? Who the hell sneaks up on someone like that?"

"Not my fault you're deaf," Kanda replied. Angela was just about to snap a reply, but remembered her main priority was to apologize...or was it to thank him? _Now_ she remembered what she was thinking about earlier.

"I'm letting that go for a minute..." Angela muttered, "I didn't look around for you just to get into another argument, although that's inevitable considering the past few days. But, I digress."

"Is there a point to this?" Kanda asked. Angela bit back the sharp remark that was on her tongue. If she didn't know any better, she would think he was _trying_ to pick a fight with her. _'No,'_ Angela thought _'don't think like that right now. You can go back to being stubborn later. First, make nice, _then_ go on the offensive.'_ Angela opened her mouth to speak when she noticed that he was already walking ahead of her.

"DON'T WALK AWAY WHEN SOMEONE IS TALKING TO YOU!" Angela shouted. What was it about this guy that made her go over the deep end about these little things?

"You weren't saying anything important," he commented dryly as Angela ran to catch up with him.

"I was trying to say thank you for helping me earlier! And I also wanted to apologize for discrediting your actions. Granted I didn't know, but still," Angela snapped. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Angela realized that she had just said what she was meaning to. _'So when I'm angry at him, it suddenly becomes easier to apologize to him? That's so...messed up, but familiar in a way...'_ Then it hit Angela, things like this always happened back home with Nikki.

Theirs was a very...strange relationship to say the least. Angela was more or less Nikki's emotional (and sometimes physical) punching bag, and never apologized for seemingly taking Angela for granted. On the surface, they clashed greatly. Angela was the noisy, easy going, caring person that often found herself being a doormat to others but never retaliating except with Nikki. Nikki on the other hand had anti-social tendencies, had violent almost bipolar, mood swings and was sooner to knock you out than talk out any problems she might have with you.

Yeah, they were different, but sometimes, Nikki needed Angela to pull her into the crowd during a party so she wouldn't be that angry wall flower with dignity, and make a complete fool of herself in public with Angela; heck, to drag her into the party period, even though she hated large crowds of people. And Angela needed Nikki to bring her back down to earth when she was going a bit too far over the line and was about to be hit by someone; to remind her to take things seriously sometimes. They were always at odds, but there was some freakish kind of sisterly love there that no one could really understand.

And now something similar to that was staring to become apparent to her with her relationship with Kanda. There was no kind of affection between the two that Angela was certain of. As at odds they were with one another, Kanda did save Angela on more than one occasion. It might have just been because it was in the job description, but why carry her when others had offered? Or offer her the bottle of water when he knew full well she would get one during the next break? Or catch her when she was about to fall off of Cherry's back?

Why did she care if he was hurt or not when she knew full well that her mental state would be much more stable if they stayed far away from one another? Why purposely seek him out just to apologize for something she wasn't at fault for? And somehow Angela knew that she would help him in any way she could if he ever needed it, even though she constantly wants to pull her hair out when they were in the same room for too long.

"Is that all?" Kanda said passively, "it's nothing worth mentioning." Somehow, Angela was expecting that. _'Now that I think about it, pissing him off is almost as fun as pissing off Nikki,'_ Angela thought with a bit of excitement _'And although she never had a sword, I'm expecting that familiar adrenaline rush to come back the next time I say something to push him into a murderous frenzy. Eh, might as well as find something to do to get rid of this homesick feeling, right Nikki?'_

"So, _Yu_," Angela said, purposely using his first name to piss him off, "where do you get that feminine charm of yours from? Honestly, I'm jealous! For example, you have such beautiful long hair, mind if I braid it?" Before her teasing could continue Angela found herself at sword point, but the thing that got the adrenaline pumping was that murderous glare.

"I'll gut you if you open your mouth one more time." Kanda growled. And Angela knew he meant it. _'Maybe this wasn't one of my better ideas,'_ Angela thought halfheartedly. _Ah, but it sure does remind me of home. And on that note~'_

"Gotta catch me first!" Angela called before bolting off towards the town, all fatigue forgotten in her quest for survival. She didn't need to turn around to now that she was on misstep away from decapitation. But this was something Angela needed. Sure, pleasant company like that from Eric and his dad were nice, but this was exhilarating and familiar. A mental image of a similar scene replayed in Angela's mind as she ran. Although she didn't fully remember what was said, all she remembered was running through town avoiding Nikki as the blonde took swings at her head with a large tree branch.

'_Sword, tree branch, what's the difference?'_ Angela thought as she ran. _'But at least now I can say that my mental state is no longer in any immediate danger...my physical being isn't too happy about that though.'_ Angela wasn't sure when she had started grinning like an idiot, or laughing her head off, but she didn't care. In her hands Cherry was chirping and flapping her wings wildly. Angela took this as a form of Cherry urging her to run faster, lest her head meet Kanda's blade. _'Why is it,'_ Angel thought, _'that I always push my luck with the violent people I'm associated with? Then again, life would be so boring if I didn't.'_

"Don't tell me that's all you've got slow poke!" Angela challenged. Okay, she had lost it, but all she needed was to hear him shout:

"DIE!" Ah, there it was.

Maybe the rest of this trip wouldn't be _too_ bad; if she survived it that is.

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**A/N: A shorter chapter, but it served it's purposes~ Sorry for such a delay! I' went on vacation legit the day after my last update, and I got back a week ago and had to catch up with my school work! Yeah, this story isn't getting as much time from my summer as I would like. School is torture, with summer reading, taking geometry online(my rents are making me do it to catch up with my classmates at school because my middle school cheated me and I should have taken geometry this year, not algebra which I should've taken last year...yeah, long story that you don't care about) and my IB personal project (for those of you who don't know what it is, don't worry you're pretty little heads about it, for those of you who do, you can relate right?) this story is progressing much slower than I like. Anyway, I AM NOT YET DEAD! And neither is this story! It made my day when I saw alerts for this story because people added it to their fav/watch list. Than you guys, it makes my day! And even my silent readers make my day :D. Thanks yall! And see you next time on Gravity~**


	6. Chapter 5: Welcome to the Dark Order

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story other than OCs that I make. But seriously, why do we have to do this? It's _FAN_ FREAKEN . Gosh, if you find this on fictionpress then I see the issues...anyway, all characters, and locations that are found in the D. Gray Man manga/anime are all property of their respectful owner. I only own Angela, Cherry, and the places I make up.**

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It a good twenty minutes after Kanda had chased her into the town before he finally stopped trying to decapitate Angela. The two walked next to one another in a comfortable kind of silence, both too preoccupied with their own thoughts and exhausted to even be bothered with the usual quarrels. _'I wonder how much longer it is till we reach the order. If not for that mess with the train, could we have been there already?'_ Looking at Kanda she decided the worst he could do was ignore her.

"Kanda, can I ask you something?" She asked.

"You just did," he replied. Angela pushed down the feeling of annoyance and rebellion and continued on.

"Not what I meant and you know it. Anyway, how much longer until we reach the order? And are we going to stop somewhere for the night?" For a moment, he did not respond, and Angela thought he wasn't going to answer when he replied.

"If we stop for the night it'll be by tomorrow evening. But I'm already late and the longer we hold onto both these pieces of innocence, the more trouble this mission will be."

"So...?" Angela prompted.

"So, I'm going to make a call, and we're catching the next train. We can be there by tomorrow afternoon if we keep going, which we will." Angela thought about it for a moment. Even though she knew that Kanda wouldn't hear her complaints, she realized that he had a point. The sooner they reached the order, the sooner they could relax, and the sooner Angela could get a better grip on what kind of world she had been thrust into.

"Okay then, what are you waiting for? There's a payphone over there." Kanda walked over to the pay phone indicated and brought out a small black..._thing_ that flew around and had a singular eye in the middle of it's...was that its head? As Angela marveled at the bat-like creature, Kanda pulled a chord from it and plugged it into the phone. He dialed a number and Angela took to sitting outside the booth and waiting, gently stroking Cherry as she examined the new for her innocence had taken.

It looked rather nice in her opinion. Much more inconspicuous and easy to carry than the glowing green cube it had been before, but why bracelets and anklets? As fashionable as they were, she couldn't quite understand it. Then again, she was no whiz at science and all that. But wouldn't it make sense for it to take the form of a belt or something closer to her center of gravity considering her innocence's nature? _'Okay, I must be tired. Because I only over think things like this when I'm tired...'_ Angela thought.

"Then again, my best conspiracy theories are always born then..."

"What are you babbling about now?" Angela jumped. When had Kanda gotten out of the booth?

"Nothing," Angela sighed. "So what was that call about anyway?"

"Nothing too important. Let's get moving." Angela complied willingly and followed Kanda to the nearest train station. How he knew where they were going was beyond her, but they made it there without a cinch, and boarded easily, once again getting their own private car.

"You know," Angela said wearily, "I'm actually a bit excited about getting to the order. What kind of people are there? What do you actually, you know, _do_ there anyway when you're not killing akuma? How many other exorcists are there? Any close to our age?" Angela knew she was ranting, and only stopped when she noticed she wasn't getting any kind of response from Kanda.

She looked over at him to see that he was fast asleep in his seat. For how long he had been like that Angela was unsure, but she stopped talking. The past few days' events must've been as tiring for him as they were for her. Not to mention he had just completed another mission before being forced to become her escort to the order if she recalled correctly. Besides, Angela wasn't as curious as her questions suggested. She just wanted to stay awake for whatever reason.

But as she realized that there was no point in staying away even after Kanda and Cherry had long since fallen asleep. Angela got comfortable in her seat, cradling Cherry in her lap and closed her eyes... She closed her eyes, knowing that once she opened them, she would awake to the day when her life as an exorcist officially began.

Angela wasn't sure what she was dreaming about, but all she knew was that it was a _very _pleasant one. Well, that was until an earthquake struck, and she fell into a crevice that opened up beneath her feet and transported her back to the real world.

"Wake up," came Kanda's voice. "Or do you want to see where this train takes you?" Angela's eyes opened slowly and she mumbled something to Kanda before walking out of the cart in a zombie-like state. _'Why,'_ Angela thought, _'why is it that my dreams always seem to time themselves perfectly so that I don't get to see the end of it? I mean it's as if my mind wants me to suffer the pain of not knowing what happened.'_ As she alighted from the train, she once again found herself following the young swordsman through a rather large town.

There were several stores and homes lining the wide cobblestone streets. The town was teeming with people. There were salesmen trying to sell their merchandise, children running and playing in the streets; couples in cafes laughing and having a good time, and more than a few horse drawn carriages going up and down the street, delivering unknown passengers to their destinations. Angela couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight. It seemed so peaceful and nice here. Maybe she could go into town a few days and just have a day to herself, or hang out with whatever friends she hopes to make at the order.

She had been so preoccupied with daydreaming that she didn't notice Kanda had left her behind until he was far ahead of her. She ran to catch up with the teen and when she did she couldn't help but smile at a rather unlikely, but amusing mental image. When she began laughing out loud at the absurdity of it all, Kanda found his curiosity go the better of him.

"What's wrong with you now?" Angela's laughter barely died down and when she tried to speak, or even _look_ at Kanda, she just went into another bout of laughter.

"It's-it's-you and, and...Oh god that couldn't ever happen! It just doesn't seem _possible_!" By now Even Cherry was a bit concerned and, much to his dismay took refuge on Kanda's head as Angela laughed like a hyena.

"_What?_" Kanda asked again.

Angela composed herself enough to finally give him a straight answer, although she giggled in between each word.

"I just thought...oh good god. I was just imagining you here, on a day off on a...on a..._date!_" And with that Angela was laughing again. Kanda just looked at her like the crazy person she was proving herself to be and walked off without a word or backwards glance. As Angela caught up with him again, she saw no anger in Kanda's eyes, but more like a faraway look. As if he was recalling something from long ago. Then they returned to their usual indifferent stare.

Angela knew better than to ask what that was about. From the fleeting look she caught in his eyes, she assumed that it wouldn't be something he'd talk about. She also made a mental not of not to bring up him on a date, which seemed to trigger that memory...

"We're here." Angela never noticed when they had walked up the steps to the order, or even leaving the town at all. Before she had a chance to take in the appearance of the order, she noticed the statue that looked like a face begin to move...and she nearly jumped out of her skin when it began to speak.

"Kanda! Welcome back. But who's this that you've brought with you?"

"An accommodator. Now open up, Gatekeeper." He did not seem fazed by the fact that he was talking to a giant statue.

"Okay...wait, with that a bird?"

"Uh...yes?" Angela stammered. She still could not grasp that she was talking to an animated, inanimate object. And one that seemed to not like birds.

"Humph, if you're going to keep that filthy thing here just make sure that its droppings don't land on me!"

"Sure...?" Angela promised. The Gatekeeper nodded before opening the door and allowing Angela and Kanda entry to the order.

* * *

**Yeah, another short chapter, but again, it suits its purposes! I kinda wanted to leave you all at a bit of a cliffy. A bad one, but a cliffy none the less. About he bit with the Gatekeeper, yeah, I just kinda imagined him not liking birds since he's a giant talking, Easter island head thing. xD Anyway, I regret to say this might be my last update before school starts, and I think everyone on this website knows what a bitch it'd be to update during all this school madness. Plus i've been procrastinating on my summer work a wee bit too long now...eh hee? Well, see you all on my next chappie!**

**Love, Kj-chan!**


	7. Chapter 6: Routine

**"Routine"**

As they walked through the doors, Kanda looked as if he was right at home, which he probably was, and kept going deeper into the building. Angela saw right away how large the order was and did the only thing that came to mind; follow Kanda. When she looked up Angela saw countless floors, and the ground level floor she was on seemed to be a labyrinth of hallways and doors.

Several people in white lab coats and long cream colored jackets walked around the hallways, carrying on with their own conversations. Several gave Angela a strange look, and she probably guessed this was one of those places where everybody knew everybody, and she, for all purposes, was an outsider. Something they also took notice of was the little red bird that was perched comfortably on Kanda's head. Cherry never bothered to get off it seemed. Kanda suddenly stopped and turned to face Angela.

"What are you doing?" He asked irritably. Angela simply shrugged.

"Well I just got here. I have no idea where anything is or who anyone is, so I decided to just...follow you?"

"I got you here, so my job is done. I'm going to turn in the innocence and go to my room. I don't care what you do, just leave me alone and take this," he plucked Cherry from off of his head, "with you." He stalked off again. Angela was dumbfounded for a second. How could he just up and leave her to her own devices in this huge place? True he wasn't really obligated to show her around...but he could at least take her to someone who would!

Ignoring his earlier comments, Angela continued to follow the teen. Surely whomever he had to give the innocence to was nice enough to show her around? As he continued down several different hallways, Angela gave up on trying to remember the way they had taken. She would have time to work it out later, she was sure.

Once again, Kanda stopped, but instead of snapping at her again, he opened a door and went in. Angela wasn't sure what to do so she merely stood awkwardly in the doorway. Angela was used to being a part of that community where everybody knew everybody, and hadn't felt the awkwardness of having to introduce herself since her first day of school back in pre-k. Needless to say, she wasn't exactly sure how to react in this unfamiliar environment when the only person she was associated with wanted nothing more to do with her.

Peering into the office, she saw that it was littered with papers and marveled at the fact nobody was drowning in there. There was a pile in particular that looked like it had collapsed on the chair behind the desk. Angela could swear she heard moaning...

Kanda muttered something about idiot chiefs and made his way over to the desk. Plunging his hand into the pile, Angela watched with a mixed expression of concern and...A bit of amusement as he pulled someone out of the pile. It was a tall man that seemed to be in about his late twenties. He had long dark hair that curled at the ends, seemingly of its own accord.

He wore wire framed glasses, a light blue turtle neck and a white coat, similar to the ones she saw some of the people downstairs wearing. Atop his head was a white beret and he also had on white pants. On the breast of his shirt, Angela noticed the rose cross symbol.

"Kanda!" The man gasped. "I've never been happier to see you! You saved me from suffocating in there! I knew you cared after all! ~" Kanda's response was dropping him unceremoniously onto his butt and walking back to the couch in the room and sitting on it. "Or maybe not..." the man continued. He took notice of Angela, who was part way in the door, not sure whether to stay or go after Kanda saved him from the mess of this office.

"Hi..?" Angela said uncertainly.

"Hello," the man said, his previously hyper mood now replaced with a more calm and collected one. _'Whoa,'_ Angela thought _'major mood swing.'_

"I take it you're the new accommodator General Tiedoll and Kanda mentioned on their previous calls?"

"Yes, that would be me," Angela said while nodding.

"I see," he continued. "Well don't be a stranger! Come, sit, and relax! Kanda briefly mentioned a bit about the encounter with the akuma you two had. But other than that I hope your trip was pleasant!" Once again the animated attitude was in place and Angela had no clue as to what to make of his behavior. The trip...

"It could have been worse I guess," Angela replied. It wasn't entirely a lie...they could be dead, right?

"That's the spirit! Keep up that kind of attitude and you'll do just fine here!" Komui beamed. He then turned to Kanda and asked for details about his mission. As Kanda filled him in on the details and handed over the innocence to give to 'Hevlaska', whoever that is, Angela looked around the cluttered office, not really listening to their conversation. There were piles of papers everywhere; it was as if it was an ocean of clutter.

'_And my mom thought _my _room was messy? If she saw this she'd put this guy under room arrest until it was spotless.'_ Then Angela's mind drifted once again back to her home. She wondered how her mom and Nikki were doing, if the house was still standing after Angela nearly made it collapse. _'I probably should have at least apologized for that before I left...'_

"Angela!" Angela snapped to attention as she heard her name being called. When she looked next to her she saw that Kanda had already left and she was now alone with the man.

"Oh sorry, I spaced out a bit," Angela said, "What were you saying Mr. ...uh..."

"Oh how rude of me not to introduce myself! I'm the head of the Black Order's European branch, Komui. I was just asking you to follow me for a bit. You'll get a tour of the order soon, but first I'd like to examine you and your innocence, just to make sure you're in top shape and confirm a few things. Now if you would," He gestured towards the door as he came around his desk and weaved his way through the mess with ease.

'_Somehow I feel that this room hasn't been clean since he started working here.'_ Angela thought as she followed him out of the office. As they navigated the building, Angela was uncharacteristically silent as she tried to memorize the layout of the order based on what she had seen so far. There were several people who greeted her guide, as he introduced Angela to them. Most of the people she met were of the science division (she at least retained what uniforms were for who) asking for Komui to do his part of the work and fill out the piles of papers that had very nearly drowned him earlier.

She tried mostly however, to remember where the cafeteria was. She was starving, and upon further thought, she hadn't had a decent meal in days. Finally their 'little' (what part of the order could be considered 'little'?) took a pause at a room that had too much of a resemblance to an operating room for Angela's liking.

"Take a seat," Komui said ominously.

Angela had never liked the doctor's office. Or rather, she had never like _needles_. Those were for all purposes the only thing that Angela was scared shitless of. It wasn't so much that it hurt, that wasn't so bad, it was more along the lines of the feeling of something being inside you that isn't supposed to be there. The thought of something sharp drawing blood, or putting whatever into her body just made her shiver.

Okay, so it did hurt a little.

However she didn't mind the dentist so much. Angela took great pride in her oral hygiene so she never worried about cavities and the like; hence, she had no need to worry about needles or drills going into her mouth.

Now she was terrified of them.

But what Komui pulled out went beyond all fathomable forms of fearsome, intimidating, and lethal.

"What in god's name is that for!?" Angela shrieked. Not only had he pulled out an array of over sized drills for _god_ knows what, but several different types of needles full of who-knows-what. The scientist had on this strange sadistic smile and tilted his head to the side in a creepy manner as he said,

"Nothing really. Just some routine tests..." What exactly was his definition of _routine_?

"No way. No way. No how. No why. You are not getting with three miles of me with that thing." Angela said. Just the sight of a needle was enough to make her heart race. It was starting to see more like an irrational fear to her, but at the moment the only thing she could think of was how..._insane_ this man, this place, this whole situation seemed to be.

"Relax; this isn't for you," he said, "However I will need to do a couple of..._tests_ to see what kind of condition you're in."

"Then what the hell is all of that for?" Angela asked suspiciously, her eyes not once leaving the over sized drill in the man's hands.

"Kanda informed me that Cherry was a parasitic type exorcist," Komui said passively. Realization dawned on Angela and he looked down at the small creature cradled in her hands. Cherry looked at Angela innocently, as though for once she didn't understand the situation. Angela looked from Cherry, to the array of tools on the table, and to the slowly advancing man before resting her gaze on Cherry. A pang of guilt hit her as she turned over her companion to the mad man.

"...You won't hurt her right?" Angela asked. She truly felt as though she was betraying Cherry at that moment. She knew that she would hate if someone she trusted left her in a situation that they knew would probably be traumatizing.

"She'll be just fine. Now if you would step outside for a minute..." He put a small needle into Cherry's wing and the bird seemed to relax and became immobile in his hands. Angela did as she was told and stepped outside. No sooner had she closed the door the shriek of a drill could be heard, followed immediately by Cherry squawking and chirping madly.

"Come on in~" Angela opened the door and Cherry looked for all the world to be dead as she lie on the table on her back, wings spread out, and completely still.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME DID YOU DO!?" Angela cried as she rushed to the sparrow. She looked for any signs of life frantically and sure enough the bird was alive, just unconscious.

"Routine, like I said," he shrugged noncommittally.

"Routine my ass..." Angela muttered. She turned to see Komui (to her great relief) putting away the tools.

"Just one more stop before I take you to your room. Nothing to bad I promise!" Komui said in defense to Angela's accusatory glare. Since she didn't have much choice Angela complied, clutching Cherry protectively to her chest all the while.

They came to a circular area that was lined with doors leading to rooms containing things unknown. However what really astounded Angela was just how _large_ the order was. Leaning over the edge of the railing she could not see the bottom and it seemed to be an empty abyss down below her. Above was pretty much the same story, as she was unable to gauge just how many other floors were above her.

Komui made his way to a _floating_ pad and gestured for her to come on as well. She couldn't see any cables or the like and wondered just what was propelling them up and down. They descended down the many floors of the order, and Angela gave up on trying to count them. She was going to dread having to learn her way around here. Finally they came to a stop in a pitch black room. She could hardly see around her until a bright white light rose up from beneath the elevator. Turning around she was that it wasn't a light, but something else all together. The being before her was covered in pure white tendrils and the only thing that it had that it would suggest some relation to human beings was its nose, mouth, and chin. She couldn't see its eyes, but it seemed glorious none the less.

Angela started in awe until one of the tendrils lifted her up and took cherry into another one. Suddenly Angela had an uncomfortable probing feeling, as though there was something inside of her that shouldn't be. Suddenly needles weren't as scary as they once were. She could feel her innocence reacting to whatever the creature was doing to her, but could not bring herself to retaliate. As uncomfortable she felt, she didn't feel threatened by the process.

Letting it go on Angela became aware of the fact that the creature was counting.

"47 percent...56 percent...68 percent...77 percent. It seems her current limit is 77 percent." a distinctly female voice said. She lowered Angela back down onto the platform along with Cherry, whose synchronization rate was deemed to be at 82%."

"You..." Angela growled as she turned to Komui, "You could have warned me that I was about to be..._probed_ or something by whatever the hell that is! It was weird, and creepy, and really uncomfortable!" Angela snapped.

"I apologize; I did not mean to frighten you in any way. I merely needed to gauge your synchronization with your innocence." A feeling of guilt descended upon Angela. She realized that she had just called the being an 'it' pretty much called it creepy and gross which wasn't the case.

"I'm so sorry!" Angela blurted, "I didn't mean it like that! I was just caught off guard was all. I mean, sure it did feel kind of weird, but it didn't exactly feel _wrong_. Like, I didn't feel threatened, just exposed or something..." Komui chuckled lightly as did the being.

"I'm sorry for the lack of warning, but an involuntary test from Hevlaska is necessary to test your sync rate with your innocence."

"Worry not; I was not insulted by what you said. Many have that kind of reaction. However your assessment of the process leads me to further believe what I saw. Your heart is kind and accepting. You open yourself to all those around you and trust those close to you. You are a reader of hearts and should use that to help discern between friend and foes. Use that skill and trust your heart, even if no one else does for it will help pave the way to a brighter future for all."

"...Beg pardon?" Angela asked as she tried to absorb Hevlaska's words. She had always thought she was really good at reading people, but reader of hearts? That's a new way of saying it. Hevlaska then seemed to direct her gaze to Cherry, who was once again in Angela's hands.

"A brilliant phoenix, light the way for those walking the path of deception and further guide your reader of hearts so together you may see through all forms of deceit and be a guiding light on this dark path. And just as you rise from the ashes, raise up you comrades in times of ruin."

Angela looked at Cherry and the little bird looked at Angela as well. Angela smiled brightly at Cherry.

"So looks like we were a dynamic duo from the get-go, huh?" Cherry just stared at her, before letting out a small chirp. Angela turned to face Komui as he began applauding Angela and Cherry.

"That sounds rather promising! Hevlaska's predictions are normally accurate and yours should prove to be rather helpful to not only each other but the order as a whole." Angela didn't really know what to say so she merely thanked Hevlaska (for what she wasn't sure, it just seemed appropriate for some reason). The lift ascended once more to a more brightly lit area and Angela found herself following Komui once more.

This time they stopped at a door marked '695' and handed Angela a key. Angela unlocked the door and looked inside. The room was a decent size, about the same size of her previous room if she wasn't mistaken. On the left wall there was a door that led to her closet and a dresser right next to it settled in the far left corner of the room. Next to the closet door there was her bathroom door. On the back wall in the middle there was a window that flooded the room with the light of the full moon. On the right wall a full sized bed sat with a bed side table to the left of it, taking up the far right corner of the room.

"I hope you'll be comfortable here. If there's anything you need, just let me know. Welcome to the order, Angela, Cherry." Angela nodded to Komui.

"Thank you very much for the tour. But uh...I do have a small issue..."

"What is it?" He asked.

"I really want to take a shower but...uh...I kind of lost all of my stuff when the train tipped..." Both she and Komui sat in contemplative silence for a while, unsure of how to deal with this situation. Suddenly Komui's head perked up and he dashed from the room. Angela sat alone with Cherry, wondering where Komui ran off to all of a sudden. A few minutes later he returned, carrying with him a black coat and skirt with silver trimmings. On the left breast was that familiar rose cross insignia of the black order.

"This is a uniform that was made for my younger sister," Komui said. _'He has a younger sister? Oh god I that she at least is sane.'_ "However they made it too big and is didn't fit her properly. She's away on a mission right now, but since it's too big anyway I'm sure she won't mind!" Angela took the clothes, wondering if this was really okay, but not really having much of a choice.

"Thanks again, Komui." He nodded, giving her a soft kind smile before leaving her to do what she wanted. All she wanted was a nice hot bath.

Twenty minutes later, both she and Cherry were feeling refreshed and clean as Angela flopped onto the bed. To her own great relief, the bathroom was stocked with soap, shampoo and the like; it even had a new toothbrush. _'I guess they provide the essentials.'_ Angela thought. Komui's sister's uniform fit her perfectly, and although it wasn't exactly sleeping ware, it was better than what she had on before. It was also rather comfortable. Although beat, Angela took the time to take the pillowcase off of her pillow and fold it into a makeshift 'nest' for Cherry to sleep in. Although the bird normally slept outside in a nest of her own making, Angela knew that the sleeping sparrow was still too drugged to fly properly and make her own nest.

Placing the nest and Cherry on the bedside table, Angela's head dropped back onto her pillow and she promptly fell asleep.

* * *

_**Hey there darlings! I know it's been FOREVER since I last posted a chapter (At least i got this month's out right? God I hate school -.-) but for those of you who are loyal followers to my story, I thank you for your time and interest in my story! It makes my day any time I get a notification that I got a new review or follower. It makes me feel like writing even more (if only there were more hours in the day...) But i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one! Oh one last thing! If you guys really do like my works, I entered a contest on a website called 'Figment' and I would really appreciate it if you guys voted for it! (It says heart this story. Heart=vote feeling the love yall). For those of you on that website my Name is Kjirstin Noelle (Don't ask xD) and the story I want you guys to 'Heart' is called 'Who? Me?' it's a rather funny story about my character's alibi for the death of a guy. I would appreciate the love and support if you could give it, but if you prefer just gravity, I won't fault you.**_

_**Love you all kiddies! Until next time,**_

_**Kj~**_


	8. Chapter 7: Food, Fire, and Fittings

_**Chapter 7: "Food, Fire, and Fittings"**_

* * *

The next morning Angela awoke to the morning sun pouring in through window and Cherry chirping in her ear. With a groan, Angela turned her head away from the light and absently waved Cherry away from her head. Neither proved to be very effective.

The light completely filled the room because she had not pulled the curtain closed the night before, and Cherry was not only an early riser and sang the morning in like every other bird, but she was also in a confined space, unable to fly, and getting restless. With a groan Angela rolled out of bed and picked up Cherry. She gave her wing a quick check over.

"Nope, still not fully healed," Angela said. Cherry puffed out her breast and let out a very unhappy chirp, one that Angela took as a sign that the bird wanted to explore their new 'home' and she wouldn't let her owner get any more sleep until she did. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, Angela saw that it was already 11:45. How had that happened?

"Okay...so you let me sleep in. Thank you for not awaking me at some god awful hour of the morning. So I guess we should both get some food and do some exploring. Not to mention..." Angela looked at her borrowed uniform. "I think some shopping is in order."

Cherry let out another chirp and Angela smirked. "Right, right, food first you naked little glutton." Cherry chirped once more, this time sounding satisfied with the statement. With an amused roll of her eyes, Angela went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up a bit before the day started.

Stepping out of her room, Angela looked around the quiet halls of the order. There was no one else but her on that level as far as she could tell, and a sudden dread filled her as she realized she had no idea where the cafeteria...or exit for that matter, was.

"Why the hell does one building need to be so big?" Angela muttered to herself. Cherry jumped from her perch on Angela's shoulder, opening her wings and flapping a bit to slow her decent. Once she hit the floor, she began hopping in a seemingly random direction. Angela watched curiously as the bird hopped away and gave Angela a look that seemed to say 'are you coming or not?' With a shrug Angela followed, not really seeing the harm in following Cherry considering her own complete lacking in sense of direction.

She vaguely remembered Komui's tour including a trip to the cafeteria, but for the life of her she couldn't recall where it was. Cherry on the other hand seemed to be hopping along with confidence through the hallways.

"You sure you know where we're going?" Angela asked. Cherry chirped, as if insulted that Angela dare question her navigational skills.

"Right, right, sorry. I guess you have to have a good memory in order to migrate to wherever the hell you go during the winter and back again right?" The sparrow let out a satisfied chirp and continued to lead the way. Soon enough, more people began to fill the hallways and the scent of a delicious variety of food filled her nostrils the closer they got to the cafeteria.

"Alright! I can get there from here, Cherry," Angela said. Scooping the bird into her hands, Angela followed her nose to the cafeteria. Walking into the large room, Angela was almost surprised to see how many people lived at the order. Every seat seemed to be filled and everyone was talking and laughing with one another.

It seemed so lively, and more than anything, Angela noticed just how many finders there were. She saw cream colored jackets everywhere, and every now and then she'd spot a fleck of the black uniforms of what few exorcists there were. There were a few people from the science division in there, a lot less than she saw yesterday that was for sure. _'I wonder where all of the scientists are. Maybe they already ate? Most of the people here are here for lunch anyway most likely. And what about the exorcists? I can hardly see any here...' _A loud growl from her stomach cut off her train of thought.

Weaving her way around the occupied tables, Angela found her way to the counter where a dark skinned man with..._purple_ hair. '_That's unique'_ Angela thought. His hair was kept in braids and he wore a sleeveless chef's overalls and sunglasses. Angela stepped forward to the counter and the chef immediately struck up a conversation.

"Why hello there little lady! I haven't seen you before-and I don't forget a face-so you must be new here! It's nice to see someone new who gets to try my cooking! What's your name hun?" Angela immediately took a liking to the man.

"I'm Angela," she said, a smile finding its way onto her face. "I just got here yesterday so I kind of got the tour and slept through breakfast."

"I knew you must've been new! And an exorcist no less. Well I hope we can get along well Angie! You don't mind if I call you that right? It's a cute nickname for a cute girl!"

"Not at all, a lot of people do. So what's your name?"

"I'm Jerry. So you said through breakfast and you didn't have dinner last night either, so you must be starving!" Cherry chirped excitedly at the mention of food.

"Yeah, we both are; so, any recommendations, Jerry?"

"Let's see...what kind of food are you into? Spicy? Sweet? Tangy? Tell me how you like it and I'll surprise you from there."

"I have a very low tolerance for spicy foods so I'll pass on that...nothing too sweet...I don't know! Just no spicy, but other than that I'm open to any kind of surprise you throw at me."

"No problem! I'll make sure to give you something that'll leave a fantastic first impression!" Jerry exclaimed before getting to work. With nothing better to do, Angela watched the chef work. He seemed to almost dance around the kitchen as he got ingredients and made the meal. _'He seems to enjoy his job,'_ Angela thought. She turned her gaze out towards the other people enjoying their lunches in the cafeteria. They were laughing and chatting with one another. _'They all seem to enjoy their jobs.'_

"You know," came a voice next to her, "After eating something Jerry's made, you'll never be able to eat anything else without being thoroughly disappointed." Angela whirled around to face the person who spoke to her. The first thing she noticed was red and not a muted kind of red, but a bright, fiery, red that demanded attention. She met a pair of brown eyes that seemed to be studying her. The last thing she took notice of was the black exorcist's uniform.

"Really? He's that good?" Angela asked. The woman nodded.

"No contest. Now...JERRY! Nourishment. Need. Now. And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee."

"No problem Liz! I'll get right on it! So the usual?"

"Yep."

"Ah you always make it so much fun to cook for you! ~" Jerry said. He then put a plate in front of Angela. It looked like a pie, but it didn't smell sweet.

"What-" Angela began but Liz answered her unasked question.

"Eel pie with lemon, parsley, and shallots. Nice choice. Now Jerry..." Jerry placed a large mug of black coffee in front of Liz. "Ah, that's better." She sighed happily and began sipping on the hot drink as Jerry prepared a meal that looked to be big enough to feed an army.

"The rest of your food'll be done in a minute."

"Thanks, Jerry," Liz said. Angela looked at her meal. _'Eel? Well, I told him to surprise me...open mind, Angie, keep an open mind.'_ Angela took forkful of the pie and bit into it. Liz watched with something close to anticipation in her eyes. Angela didn't get a chance to wonder about what the look was for, when the full flavor of the food hit her.

"Oh my..." she gasped. It was...it was...it was _heaven_. "Don't tell my mom, but this is the best thing I've ever had in my life. I...it's...I can't even..._wow!_" Angela was at a loss of words. She had never tasted anything so good.

"Told ya so," Liz said. Angie cut off a piece and put it onto a napkin before letting Cherry try some. The bird pecked away at the potion and her feathers bristled as she whistled in appreciation of the food. She went to take some more from Angela's plate directly, but the teen held out a hand and stopped the bird in its tracks. She cut off another piece and gave it to the bird.

"So I take it you like my cooking?" Jerry asked.

"Like it? I _love_ it! It's fantastic! It's by far the best thing I've ever had!"Angela exclaimed. Cherry chirped her agreement as she stole a beak-full of the pie from Angela's plate.

"Cut it out you little glutton!" Angela scolded. Jerry began putting out more plates of several different types of food in front of Liz. By the time the last plate had been set out, there was a sizable stack of food in front of the redhead.

"You know where the carts are, Liz. If you want anything else I'll be more than happy to oblige! The same goes for you too, Angie!" Angela was full, (despite the fact that Cherry ate a good 1/4 of her pie) and gaped at Liz's pile of food.

"I...uh...um...I...can I have some ice tea?" Angela asked when she finally managed to peel her eyes away from the massive stack of food.

"No problem," he said.

"So how many people are you sitting with exactly?" Angela asked.

"Just me, but you can come to if you want, Angie was it?"

"Yea…how on earth do you eat so much food?" Angela asked. Jerry handed her the iced tea and with a quick thanks the two girls departed.

"I just do," Liz shrugged as she pushed her cart full of food along.

"But...how...and...where does it all _go?_" Angela asked. Liz was rather slim and it seemed impossible to Angela that someone could eat that much, let alone maintain that kind of figure. Liz shrugged.

"Just do," she said. They sat down at an unoccupied table and Liz began to dig into her meal. Angela didn't mean to stare, but she found herself gaping as Liz wolfed down the food without much effort. It was about ten minutes and about eighty different plates later that she was finally finished and announced that she was full.

"Man, Jerry's the best at what he does," Liz said. "So, where you headed now, Angie?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Angela admitted. She knew that she wanted to go into town and get some new clothes, but she was having issues finding her way out of the order, not to mention she lost her wallet along with everything else she brought with her when she left home. She explained this to Liz who listened intently while walking around the order with Angela.

"Oh, okay," the woman said. "Well, I think even before you go out, you should go get fitted for a uniform that actually fits you properly."

"Okay...wait, _fitted?_ Are they made special per person or something?" Liz nodded.

"Each exorcist, you _are_ an exorcist and not just borrowing some one's uniform until you get regular clothes right?" Angela nodded. "Right, well the uniforms are fitted namely to accommodate an exorcist's innocence. Take Komui's sister for example, her innocence is in the form of boots she leaps, she kicks, and she pretty much uses her legs for combat. Do you think she could do that in a pair of tight pants or something? That's why she wears a skirt for mobility. After they learn how your innocence works and get your measurements, they'll make a uniform that lets you make the best use of your innocence."

"That makes sense, but now that I think about it, no one really bothered with my innocence yesterday. Should I just tell them what it does or...?" Liz shrugged.

"What is your innocence anyway? Is it still raw or was it already encased within something before?"

"Well...it started it in a raw shape. But later on it kind of just turned into these bracelets," Angela extended her arm and rolled up her sleeves a bit to show Liz one of the bracelets, "And these anklets," Angela gestured to the bands around her ankles.

"Nice~ what do they do?"

"Well isn't only fair that you at least show me what _your_ innocence does before I start telling you all about mine?"

"It is..." Liz began, "But I never said I was fair." Angela glared playfully at the red head who smiled deviously.

"Touché, but you get nothing more out of me until-" Angela's sentence was cut off by a scythe coming to her throat. Upon further inspection, Angela saw that it was a claw from one of Liz's gloves that was shaped like a scythe.

"Now you know what my innocence is," Liz said sweetly before deactivating her innocence.

"Had you let me get any closer a look, you would've drawn blood." Angela said while rubbing at her throat.

"Crap, looks like I didn't get close enough then," Liz sighed. Angela chuckled lightly.

"So, what's with the bird?" Liz asked suddenly. Angela looked around for a moment and wondered where Cherry was. She found the little red blob hidden among Liz's crimson locks.

"I didn't think the order allowed p-" Angela clamped a hand over Liz's mouth before she made the mistake of saying 'pet' when Cherry could easily pull out (or burn off) her hair.

"Apparently she's an exorcist too," Angela said hurriedly. Liz nodded before biting the hand that Angela had not yet removed.

"First off, don't do that again or you'll lose a finger. Secondly, I think I heard one of the generals also had an animal partner. A monkey I believe? While one useless old man drags around a coffin everywhere..." Liz mumbled.

"I'm sensing animosity towards said coffin-dragging general?"

"You don't know the half of it," Liz growled, "But back to you, what does your innocence do?"

"It-" Angela was cut off by Liz pushing her to the ground just as a massive jet of flame passed over their heads. Angela looked at Liz in surprise and horror, wondering just what the hell that was.

"Science division," Liz said, "enter at your own risk." Angela and Liz looked around the corner into a room where scattered papers littered the floor, much like Komui's office, except these papers were charred, along with the room's occupants.

"PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!" A light blue...blob shouted while...floating(?) in a frenzy around the room, a small fire burning on his...it's...head. A man with dark brown hair and large spiral glasses quickly doused the...blob with a fire extinguisher, effectively putting out the fire.

Standing in the center of the chaos was Komui, a pile of what looked to now be scrap metal on the floor in front of him.

"WHY!?" He cried, "HE WAS SO YOUNG! OH MY POOR BABY!" Angela watched the scene with a sense of awe (that something so cartoonish was unfolding before her) and amusement.

"What-?" Liz stopped Angela from asking the dreaded question.

"It's better we don't know."

"Okay, chief, that's what, the third explosion this week? You need to give it a rest before you get all of us killed!" A man with sandy blonde hair said.

"But...but..." Komui whimpered.

"Isn't Lenalee due back today? Why don't you go get ready to greet her?" The blonde man continued. Komui's mood instantly brightened and he sprang to his feet, energized and gleeful before running out the door, screaming something or other about his 'precious sister'.

"I wonder if Lenalee will ever forgive me for that..." the blonde muttered.

"Think of it this way, sir," the man with the spiral glasses said, "He was going to be there to greet her anyway."

"And that," Liz said, "was a half a day in the life of the science division. It's only 1:00 too; I think that's a new record." The men in the room looked at Angie and Liz as they entered.

"Look who's finally awake," The blonde man said. "Afternoon, Liz."

"Hey Ree," Liz said. "Guess I should help with this mess right?"

"That would be nice," the man with the spiral glasses said.

"Yeah well Komui dying in a ditch would be pretty nice too, Johnny," Liz replied. "But I'm not here to do that, I'm here to crash on the couch until the idiot sends me on another mission or sends me into that black hole of an office to try and fix it up."

"So then nothing outside of the usual," the man Liz called 'Ree' said.

"Yep. Oh and this," she grabbed Angela's shoulders and presented her to the scientists, "is Angela. She needs a uniform that actually fits her properly and that idiot Komui didn't adjust her innocence yet so you guys can take care of that, right? Of course you can. Now see you all later, and I'll find out what your innocence does after my nap, Angie. See you all...whenever." With that, Liz departed and left Angie alone with the scientists.

"Nice to meet you too..." Angela muttered. She then turned her attention to the group of men before her.

"Uh...hi again." Angela said.

"Ah right, you're the new exorcist we saw last night; nice to see you again. So what do you think of the Order so far?" Johnny asked.

"Simply put, confusing, but has great food and comfy beds."

"I guess that's accurate enough," Ree said. "You get used to the size after a while and well, if we don't get back to work soon we won't get to enjoy those beds any sooner. Come on people, we gotta clean up the chief's mess and get back to work!"

"Yes sir!" The scientists chorused. The group scattered, some addressing the mess on the floor caused by the explosion, others tackling the unbelievable amount of paperwork laid out before them. 'Ree' turned to Angela.

"Sorry about all that chaos, Angela. I'd like to say the chief isn't always like that but..."

"It's alright," Angela laughed, "I've already figured out that he's a rather...colorful character. I guess I know where to come if I ever get bored though!"

"Or if you're feeling suicidal." he countered. "I'm Reever Wenhamm. I'm responsible for these guys, under Komui that is."

"Angela Davis, but I guess you already knew that. Nice to meet you, Reever. So...you're the second in command. How is that possible? You seem to have it together and Komui seems so..."

"Insane? Out of touch?"

"All of the above."

"Yeah," he sighed, "The chief does come off that way. But despite first impressions, he's pretty reliable when it comes down to it. While he makes us all want to pull out his hair and feed him to whatever it is that's growling under that beret of his there's a certain level of respect for him here."

"Really now..." Angela said thoughtfully. She really didn't have much place to be judging Komui since she hasn't even known him 24 hours, but he was in charge for a reason, and everything about him seemed to scream 'I care' at least to Angela. _'Well,'_ She thought _'since I'm going to be here a while I'm probably going to see this respectable, leadership quality of his soon enough.'_

"So," Reever said, "you need to get sized for a uniform and your innocence refined right? Hey Johnny, 65 can you two come here a minute?" Johnny and the blue blob from before came up to the pair. "65, I need you to take care of Angela's innocence for now. Johnny, you start sizing her for the uniform. I'll see you later, Angela." Reever departed, and Johnny and 65 struck up a conversation.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you, Angie. I promise we'll take good care of you and your innocence...OUCH HEY CUT THAT OUT!" 65 exclaimed. Cherry was pecking at the blue blob, and Angela had no idea why. _'It might be because he looks like a giant blue marshmallow...but then again, Cherry doesn't need a reason to do most of the things she does..."_ Angela reached down and scooped the sparrow into her hands and gave a quick apology to 65.

"It's no big deal, so long as it didn't leave a mark," he...it...he said.

"You know," Angela said to the bird in her hands, "you're a lot more trouble than you're worth sometimes." Cherry did nothing but give Angela that 'I'm an innocent bird, I didn't know I was doing anything wrong' look. "Don't give me that look. You know full well what you did."

"Um..." Johnny intervened, "if you don't mind my interrupting, but I kind of need your measurements, and you mind telling us what your innocence does so we know the best way to modify it, and your uniform?"

"No problem," Angela said after pulling away from the glare match she had entered with the sparrow. She explained the nature of her innocence and handed over the anklets and bracelets to 65.

"Thank you~" 65 said, "We'll have this back to you tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest!" With that he walked...slithered...floated...away. Without the innocence on her person, Angela suddenly felt lighter, as though she had just been relieved of a heavy burden. She felt much more energized than she had since she got the mysterious substance.

"Wow I feel great!" Angela exclaimed. Johnny chuckled.

"Yeah, most exorcists, with the exception of the parasitic types, tend to get exhausted when their innocence is constantly active before it gets turned into a weapon here at the order."

"Oh yeah, General Tiedoll told me that...gosh it hasn't even been a week since I left has it? So much has happened since Tuesday. One minute I'm shopping with my mom, the next I'm fighting akuma on a train!"

"Sounds like you had quite the adventure these past few days," Johnny said.

"Yeah, it was pretty insane," Angela began rambling about the trip to the order as Johnny took her measurements, the man listening intently and making his own comments about the little adventure. Johnny then told her about all of the insane things that have happened within the order, most of the insanity being a result of one of Komui's failed experiments, and lack of sleep. The time flew by and before they knew it, Johnny had all of the measurements, and Angela had a new friend in the scientist.

"It was really nice talking with you, Johnny," Angela said.

"Same to you, Angie. It was nice to get a break from all of the usual work."

"From what you've told me I bet it is! Well, I'll stop by later, I've got some things to take care of and, unfortunately, you have to get back to work. I hope you get some sleep soon! See you, Johnny."

"Bye, Angie." With that, Angela and Cherry left the science division and started down the corridors. It wasn't until she (thought) she was a fair distance from the science division that a horrible realization dawned on Angela.

"Cherry..." The sparrow chirped in response. "I don't suppose you know where the exit is?"

* * *

**AND THAT MY LOVES IS THE MOST RECENT CHAPTER! I'm so sorry for not updating last month, but writer's block/homework was killing me, I can't believe how quickly two months pass! I'll try and make up by getting another chapter out by this month's end, but sadly, I can make no promises darlings. Now to address a few things in this chapter for you people who bother to read the author's notes I put up. First, I would like to thank my best friend (the person I based Nikki's personality off of) for letting me use her OC Liz. She never made a DGM story for her (I don't know if she plans to or if we're just gonna keep using her for role plays) but it's her OC. I hope I did her justice. To FF she is known as 'Kate'/MisunderstoodMisfit! For those Sherlock, Avengers, Doctor Who, and general bbc/KHR and Thor fans, you should check out her account! She's got a fantastic skill for writing and not nearly enough recognition! Not to mention I would love it if you guys who like her work help me encourage her to make a story for Liz~**

**Now, I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS DARLINGS! YOU'RE ALL SUCH BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL PEOPLE AND WHENEVER I CHECK MY EMAIL IT MAKES MY DAY TO SEE AN ALERT FROM FF. It also encourages me to write more, which is how I finally got over this writer's block/made time by staying up at ungodly hours to type xD. Starting next chapter I will be answering all reviews in the story instead of PMs because some people might have the same questions~**

**Next on the list: **** I read on the wiki that the science division members sometimes said that they heard something making sounds underneath his beret. I haven't read the manga from beginning to end so I don't know if this is true or not, nor have I heard about it in the anime, but for m own purposes, I'm putting it in and it's growling ^^**

**Next (God this is one helluva long AN): ****I've come to realize that I've given Cherry this complete, mischievous personality and I've seemed to turn Angela into Dr. Doolittle or something o.O I should really start getting some sleep before I write these things...but at the same time I like it and it works~ and it's an anime people. If people have magical cubes that they make into weapons, a girl can communicate with the bird she raised in a telepathic like manner.**

******Lastly: the '...' mostly is to prove that this is told from Angela's P.O.V for those of you that couldn't guess. and she called 65 and it/blob because she (and I for that manner) aren't really sure what he is...o.o. **

******That's all folks! Thank you to those who have been reading and I hope to see old and new faces in the next chapter! P.S. something to look forward to: 'We meet 12 year-old Lenalee next chapter! ^-^ See you then darlings~**

******Love,**

******Kj~**


	9. Chapter 8: Meeting Lenalee

_**Chapter 8: Meeting Lenalee**_

"Kill. Me. Now." Angela groaned. She and Cherry had been wandering around the Order for what seemed like ages, and frankly, Angela was sick and tired of the place.

"So the only place you bothered to make a note of remembering was the _cafeteria_?" Angela growled. Cherry didn't make a sound, but at the same time, Angela noticed that the sparrow refused to make eye contact as well. "You really are a little glutton..." Angela muttered.

At the moment, she and Cherry were wandering in a dark torch lit corridor. The only sounds were of dripping water, a river running next to them, and the occasional scuttle of a rat somewhere on the floor. Angela couldn't fathom how she had managed to get here, and when she attempted to backtrack, she found she couldn't get back to the upper levels of the order. The damp air and lack of visibility were a very creepy combination to say the least. Down here Angela felt completely isolated, save for Cherry, and that coupled with the creepy atmosphere, made her want to jump out of her skin at almost every little thing.

'_Why torch light anyway?' _Angela thought irritably. _'I guess there isn't really much of a fire hazard considering the stone and the river...but still, _torches_? They couldn't think of anything better...or less creepy?'_

Cherry was also noticeably on edge. Her feathers were bristled-a sure sign of unease or irritation when dealing with birds-and the she kept fidgeting nervously on Angela's shoulder. Then there was the sound that Cherry kept making that seemed akin to growling; well, as close to growling as a bird could get.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't like it down here either," Angela said. "Have I ever told you that I _really_ don't like damp, poorly lit, confined spaces, Cherry?" At this point Angela was talking just to hear the sound of her own voice, so as to keep from panicking anymore than she already was. The bird just continued her little growling thing. That is until they heard something that made them stop cold. A voice...no, two voices, one male, one female, directly ahead of them.

'_Ghosts?'_ Angela thought, finally letting the creepy atmosphere around her mess with her head. _'Wait, that can't be. It's not impossible that someone else would be down here, it _is_ still a part of the Order...at least I think it is. Besides, there is no such thing as ghosts or spirits or...aren't we here _because_ of ghosts and spirits that are being used for evil?'_

"Whatever!" the teen finally exclaimed "right now that voice is the first sign of life and I sure as hell am not staying down here to go mad!"

"Who's there?" the male voice called out. Angela stepped into a more brightly lit area. There was a stone staircase that she assumed led back into the main area of the order, and a longboat tied to the dock, keeping it from floating downstream. Next to the staircase was a man in the Finders uniform, and a girl that looked to be about 13. She was wearing an exorcist's uniform; much like the one Angela was wearing, except maybe a size or two smaller. She had long green pigtails on either side of her head and her purple eyes were locked onto Angela and Cherry.

"Oh, a new exorcist?" the girl said. She walked forward and stuck her hand out to Angela.

"Hi, I'm Lenalee. I'm also an exorcist." So _she's_ the famous Lenalee Angela's been hearing so much about.

"Nice to meet you, Lenalee, I've heard quite a bit about you already, and I think there's someone waiting for you up there. Reever sends his condolences for reminding him about your return."

"Its fine, he would've been there anyway. That's one thing you can be sure of when it comes to my brother...um..." Angela noticed the hesitation and mentally smacked herself for not introducing herself right away.

"Right! Angela! I'm Angela! But you can call me Angie; everybody else seems to like it. Mind if I call you Lena? Call it being lazy, but it's a lot shorter than Lenalee."

"No problem! I don't mind the nickname." The Finder came forward and offered his hand to Angela, which she took and shook his hand.

"I'm Toma, a Finder. Nice to meet you, Angela."

"Nice to meet you too, Toma," Angela replied. There was an impatient chirp, drawing Lenalee and Toma's attention to the bright red sparrow on Angela's shoulder.

"Oh! Right, almost forgot, this is Cherry."

"How cute!" Lenalee exclaimed before gently rubbing the top of Cherry's head with her index finger.

"Very cute," Toma agreed, "but why did you bring her with you?"

"Ah, it's more like she chose to follow me, not that I mind. I would be crazy homesick by now without this little nutcase to keep me company. Not to mention Kanda and Komui called her a...it started with a 'p'...Para...god my memory sometimes..."

"Parasitic?" Toma supplied.

"Right parasitic! She's parasitic type innocence. How we found that out is a bit of long story..." Angela said. By now the three were making their way up the staircase and Angela was glad to already be able to see sunlight up ahead and those torches far behind her.

"You mentioned Kanda," Lenalee said, "You've already met then?"

"Ah...that's an even _longer_ story. But, Lena, what's your story? I mean-sorry if I seem a bit nosy-but you seem to be even younger than me, what are you doing fighting in some kind of holy war? I mean, don't they at least let us kids grow to be a bit older before throwing us into this mess?" Lenalee looked like she was about to answer when a white and purple blur collided with her.

"LENALEE! YOU'RE HOME!" Komui cried excitedly. He clung to his sister, picking her up and twirling her around happily.

"Hi, brother. It's good to see you again too," Lenalee said. Komui put her down and it was a wonder to Angela that she wasn't stumbling around dizzy..._watching_ that little display made her dizzy. _'Good sense of balance then,'_ Angela thought absently.

"Toma, nice to see you made it back safely as well," Komui said to the Finder.

"Thank you very much for the concern-"

"But if my precious little sister hadn't been as safe and sound as you, then there would be some very _harsh_ consequences in order..." Komui said ominously. Angela could almost see the sinister aurora around the deranged man.

"Cut it out, brother!" Lenalee scolded, drop kicking Komui with ease.

"Owie...no need to be so _mean_! I was only worried about you! It's a cruel and dangerous world out there and I'm cooped up in here unable to protect my sweet baby sister!" Komui cried in that overly dramatic way of his. Despite the comedic delivery though, Angela could still see the truth in his words. She had only been on the job a day before the incident with the train. Granted most of the people involved got out of it alive but still...

"Penny for your thoughts?" Toma asked.

"Where's the penny?" Angela said automatically, this being an old joke between Nikki and herself.

"Ha, I guess you have a point. Sorry, I don't have one on me at the moment," Toma said lightly.

"It's an old joke. But I was just thinking about Komui," Angela confessed.

"What about him?"

"I was thinking if I could do what he does. Listening to him earlier...and now," The man in question still hasn't let up on his sister, insisting that she go get checked out in the infirmary for a full body check to make sure the slightest _scratch_ wouldn't go unattended. "I can tell he really cares about Lenalee. And not just her either. He seems like a compassionate guy that cares about the people under him."

"You're right about that," Toma agreed.

"Yeah, and despite his overbearing nature, it's also very relaxing. I don't have any siblings so I wouldn't know, but I'm pretty sure I would go mad if I were in his shoes. Innocence chooses its accommodator, no substitutes, and no exceptions. Komui, the older brother, didn't get picked, but his little sister did. If I were in his shoes, I would go mad every time she was out on a mission. I wouldn't stop worrying, and I don't think he ever does, even when she comes back. I know I wouldn't. I would be grateful she came back, but I would think, what about the next time? Or the time after that? Every time I would see her off I wouldn't be able to help but wonder...what if she doesn't come back? I think I would lose it. And yet...he still smiles. He's a bit weird, and kind of crazy in my opinion, but he still manages to smile, keep a kind of infectious, optimistic air about him. It takes a strong person to be able to do that, and I wonder if I ever could be that strong."

Toma said nothing for a bit, taking in what Angela just said. He observed her for a moment. How many days had she been here in the Order for her to get such an accurate read on Komui? Where does she keep that kind of thought in such a young mind? Toma couldn't help but think that the newest recruit was not only perceptive, but had potential to put that skill to good use as she developed her skills in the Order.

"Everything you just said is true," Toma said, "but when you think about it, in his position, Komui isn't left with much of a choice to be the way he is. I'm not sure how much you know about the order already, but he is not only in charge of this branch of the order, but every other branch as well. He directs the deployment of other exorcists worldwide, reporting only to central and the great generals.

True, he does care deeply about not only his sister, but all those under him, but with that kind of power, that kind of responsibility, I'd say if he didn't act the way he did, he would've cracked a long time ago. He has to keep a level head in order to get his job done. Not to mention, Lenalee relied heavily on her brother for support when she first joined the Order at about eight."

"I see...wait she was _eight?_ What the hell is wrong with these people!? That must've been terrible to have to leave home like that so young. Now I get it. So Komui is always going to see that precious little girl that was taken from him...and still might be one day. Damn, I sound morbid right now! I guess with these kinds of doubts coupled with that kind of responsibility...I think I've gained a newfound respect for Komui. And I've only known him a day! Actually...more like half a day..."

'_Half a day? Perceptive indeed. Wonder what Hevlaska's prophecy for her was.'_ Toma mused. Before the band of four knew it, they had reached Komui's office. Komui ushered the three into his office, although Angela was unsure as to what she was doing in there, she certainly wasn't about to go off on another 'adventure' in the Order.

Taking a seat one end of the couch, Lenalee and Toma did likewise, with Lenalee in between Toma and Angela. Lenalee and Toma gave details about their mission, an innocence recovery apparently, but it turned out to be a false alarm...but that doesn't mean there weren't any akuma. She didn't pay much attention to the details; she was too wrapped up in her earlier conversation with Toma.

'_That kind of sacrifice…Leaving your home, your loved ones, all for the greater good I guess. But at eight years old? It certainly was sweet, and certainly must've been difficult for Komui to leave his home for the sake of his little sister. I wonder if they were leaving any other family behind. I wonder if my mom would think about doing something like that...'_ Of course she would. This much Angela knew without a doubt. But as much as she loved and missed her mom, she wouldn't want her anywhere near this kind of danger, not when she's the main reason Angela can look forward to going home. Plus, as extreme as this kind of situation is, Angela wanted the chance to grow as her own person, stand on her own, and she couldn't do that with her mom coddling and correcting her every step of the way.

'_But still, it would be nice to be able to at least talk to her every now and then...and Nikki too. Man, the kind of chaos we could stir up if she were here...'_

"Alright, I'll read the full report from you two later," Komui said. Angela had tuned back into the conversation just in time to catch the end. "Go and get some rest, and be sure to come by and see your big brother again Lenalee~" Komui cooed. Leenalee promised and left with Angela and Toma. Toma departed to go do his own thing leaving just Lenalee and Angela to chat.

"Hey, Lenalee," Angela said, getting a sudden idea, "I know you must be tired and all, seeing as how you just got back, but would you mind going into town with me? I have some shopping to do, but I would really like to get to know you better." Lenalee smiled brightly, seemingly excited by the idea.

"It has been a while since I've had a day off. Not to mention it would be a lot of fun and a good chance for us to get better acquainted. I would love to! What time is it now?" Angela didn't have a watch, but luckily there was a wall clock hanging nearby.

"2:30," Angela replied.

"Alright, you mind if I take a bath and a nap and we leave at about...4:00?"

"Sounds great!" Angela said happily. Normally she wasn't one for shopping, but right now it was a necessity, and Lenalee seemed to make good company. "4:00 it is then! Oh and Lenalee, one more favor?"

"Sure, what?"

"Mind showing me how to get back to my room?"

* * *

**OH MY GOD I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO LONG! IT'S BEEN OVER TWO MONTHS! I'M SO SORRY FOR THE EXTENDED ABSENCE! I really have no excuse other than school and writer's block. But better late than never...right? For those of you still reading, thanks so much! I love you all so much! And reviews make my day! Speaking of which..all the reviews from chapter one shall be answered NOWW! Just to clear the air and I have a feeling that some of the questions (like the one about pairings) are ones that other readers may have now. So let's just clear the air now~**

**Little101: No. No. And. HELL TO THE NO. Okay sorry, but I'm a heave AleenXLenalee shipper. They were tagged because they are the first to people that Angela interacts heavily with, and continues to interact heavily with throughout the story.**

**BloodStainsOnMyKisses: Thanks so much~**

**Elmo Mobley (Actually a personal friend of mine!): Thanks for actually reading it dude! I'm glad you've like it so far!**

**MysticalNyla: Thanks so much! And here's another update!**

**Halley Vanaria: Lol, not as soon as any of us would have liked I'm sure, but here's another update! Sorry (to all my readers) for the delay!**

**goldenwing57: Correct you are my friend! ANd lol, that tends to bug me too! I just type in the lyrics I do know into google and hope for the best x3 and Komui will ALWAYS be Komui xD**

**PrincessWindNight: Thank you very much! And that's all I can do, give it my best shot!**

**Snowlily246: Thanks so much! I haope you continue to like it (that is if you haven't already gotten tired of waiting for updates...)**

**And last but certainly not least, All of OpenDoorLeia's reviews have certainly been a huge help to me thus far. When I go back and edit my story, it'll be that much better because of the things she has brought to my attention. All of your reviews constructive critisim, or even a little bit of praise (but no flames please folks) are the reason I keep writing and will only get better! Thanks darlings! Next chapter we get to see Lenalee and Angela bonding over the thing that brings all women together-SHOPPING! Not a big fan of it myself, but with the right person it can turn into a blast!**

**See you loves next chapter,**

**Kj~**


	10. Hiatus Alert

**Hey guys. As you probably guessed, this isn't an update. I know you guys have been waiting a long time for one, and so have I -.-' Right now I have a lot going on and even though I'm on spring break, I still have a lot on my plate. And then there's the issue of a little demon known as writer's block. As a matter of fact, a bunch of ****_other_**** story ideas have been floating around my head like mad, original and fan fiction alike and focusing on one just seems near impossible right now. I'm also planning a party, my sweet 16 to be exact and we're redoing my house for the occasion, hence why I have zero free time and the party is only 5 weeks away. It seems like a while, but in actuality, with all that has to be done, I'm wondering if everything will be done by then ^^'.**

**So unfortunately, seeing as how Spring break is the last really long break before summer vacation (and I still have online courses to take that my parents are badgering me to complete) I will try my hardest to get another chapter out before the end of spring break, but I make no promises. Also, my next update if I don't get one out this week will, unfortunately, not come until summer vacation (huh, right around the time I started this story) most likely. I may find time to update, but I guarantee nothing until then. Sorry!**

**I will though (and many of you will probably hate me for this or love me for this) be working on another story (I promised myself I wouldn't start anything new until I finished this story but looks like that isn't happening...stupid creative juices) and the prologue and possibly first chapter will be up by the end of this week. It's not a DGM story, but a YYH or Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction instead. This one will be going a bit faster so all of you Yu Yu fans check it out if you're interested! :D**

**Any of you interested in my original story will have to wait a bit, but I will be posting it on a website called Wattpad soon. I'll let any of you interested know when that goes up, just PM me if you want to know.**

**So, long story short, this story is on hiatus, look out for a new story sometime this week (maybe even tonight) and let me know if you care to read an original story I'm working on when it comes out.**

**Again, sorry about the inconvience, see you all soon (first week of summer at the latest, I swear on my pretty new sweet 16 dress).**

**~Kj**


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